Christchurch unveils memorial for quake victims

The New Zealand city of Christchurch unveiled a national memorial yesterday to commemorate the 185 people who died in an earthquake six years ago.

Prime Minister Bill English joined other dignitaries to unveil the memorial wall on the anniversary of the 2011 quake.

“The earthquake, we saw so dramatically, took lives, destroyed homes, toppled workplaces, and ruined livelihoods,” English said.

Clad with more than 500 Italian marble panels, the wall stretches 112 metres along the banks of the Avon River. The names of those who died have been written across a 40-metre section of the wall, which bereaved families got a chance to view during a private ceremony on Tuesday.

Designed by Slovenian architect Grega Vezjak, the memorial cost 11 million New Zealand dollars (Dh28 million), most of it paid for by the government.

The memorial is named Oi Manawa, which means “the tremor of the heart” in the country’s indigenous Maori language.