Four Britons ‘killed in earthquake’

Four Britons feared dead in quake

At least four Britons are understood to have been killed in the New Zealand earthquake (AP)

At least four Britons are understood to have been killed in the New Zealand earthquake, with two injured and one missing, the Foreign Office said.

This came after local police said they expected the death toll in Christchurch to rise above 200, with the total number of confirmed dead now at 147.

More than 50 people remain unaccounted for, officials added.

The severity of the injuries sustained by those caught up in the magnitude 6.3 disaster has slowed the grim process of identifying the dead, and only one of the British victims’ names has been confirmed.

Gregory Tobin, 25, a chef, from Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, had been on a round-the-world trip and was believed to have been working temporarily at a garage in Christchurch when the devastation struck.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “We understand at least four British people are dead, one missing and two injured.”

British High Commission spokesman Chris Harrington confirmed that two British nationals aged over 50, a male tourist and a woman who lives in Christchurch, had been taken to hospital with serious, but not life threatening injuries sustained in the tremor.

The man remains in hospital but the woman has been discharged.

Another British woman was discharged from hospital after suffering a suspected heart attack following the quake, Mr Harrington added.

A British taskforce of disaster victim identification (DVI) experts is due to arrive in the city on Monday to help identify victims.