A special inquest has opened in New Zealand into the deaths in the Christchurch earthquake of nine people who remain formally unidentified.

Chief coroner Neil MacLean has so far pronounced dead three Chinese women.

Their phones, bank accounts and passports had not been used, and their families deserved closure, he said.

A total of 181 people died in the 6.3-magnitude quake that hit New Zealand's second city on 22 February, destroying hundreds of buildings.

The remains of the nine people in question were too incomplete to allow for formal identification.

Even DNA testing proved inconclusive, prompting the special inquest, which is scheduled to run until Wednesday.

Four were Chinese and one Filipino. Others were born in Peru and Russia.

They had been reported as being in the Canterbury Television (CTV) Building before it collapsed, and have not been seen since.

Read More...........
Reproduced under licence from BBC News © 2011 BBC