Witness error to blame for cathedral toll mix up

The Christchurch Cathedral was badly damaged in the earthquake. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Police are blaming shaky eyewitness accounts for leading them to mistakenly believe there were up to 22 people missing, presumed dead, in Christchurch Cathedral's ruins.

It was widely believed that Urban Search and Rescue teams who spent much of last week trawling through the cathedral's ruins and its collapsed spire were working to recover bodies.

Reports emerged of a tour group that had just begun to climb the tower to take advantage of its views of the city when the 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck on February 22.

Cathedral Dean Peter Beck had also told the Herald three days after the quake that he had comforted a woman who told him others were behind her when she fled the collapsed spire. She believed they were trapped inside.

Somehow the number of people missing in the cathedral was set at 22, and two days after the earthquake Superintendent Dave Cliff said there was "no possibility of survivors" among them.

But police spokesman Grant Ogilvy said the figure of the missing was not backed by any real evidence.

"It was what eyewitnesses at the time said they thought they had seen and this is what police went on.

"But I think in the telling of the story it quickly became established as fact."

Mr Ogilvy said there was no way of knowing how many people were in the building at the time of the quake, as the cathedral did not keep a register.

The Herald understands police scrutinised footage from three CCTV cameras in the cathedral and one on the spire but found nothing conclusive.

Mr Ogilvy said police never had a list to match names to any of those missing in the ruins of the cathedral, which has up to 700,000 visitors a year, making it one of Christchurch's most-frequented attractions.

"Whatever it might be, if you go to Auckland Museum there is no sort of list of any people who are in there at any one time," said Mr Ogilvy.

"Christchurch Cathedral has people coming in and out of it all the time."

A source at Christchurch Cathedral yesterday said Dean Beck was "completely bewildered" by claims 22 people were missing in its ruins.

"It started out in the media and then every other media just perpetuated it," she said. "We never thought it was a figure like that."

Ron McPhail, who leads agricultural tours around New Zealand, took a group of Dutch farmers to the cathedral about three hours before the quake struck.

He did not think his group, who had been on the last day of their tour, could have been mistaken for those allegedly trapped inside.

"It was all pretty bizarre, actually."

Superintendent Sandra Manderson told Radio New Zealand that officials were trying to establish where the estimate of those people trapped in the cathedral had come from and the list of missing people was being reviewed.

Urban Search and Rescue crews tasked with clearing the cathedral and its spire completed their search early on Saturday.

Fire Service Assistant Commander Paul Baxter said it was a "surreal" feeling after crews searched the cathedral and its environs but found nothing.