Death toll on the rise in NZ earthquake

Hopes are fading of finding more survivors in the collapsed downtown towers of New Zealand's quake-shattered Christchurch, as officials said the death toll rose to 98 with grave fears for many of the 226 missing.

“We are obviously very fearful tonight that the death toll could be much greater than any of us had ever feared,” said Prime Minister John Key.

Rescue efforts so far had focused on the Canterbury Television -- or CTV -- building and a handful of other major office complexes that crumbled downtown.

Police say over 100 bodies may still lie trapped in the tangled concrete and steel that was the CTV building, where dozens of students from Japan, Thailand, China and other Asian countries were believed buried when an English-language school collapsed along with other offices.

Over 20 bodies were pulled from the CTV site on Thursday – but were not immediately identified. Officials appealed to families of the missing to be patient, saying the agony could be worse if they rushed the identifications and came to wrong conclusions.

The damaged buildings in and around Christchurch numbered in the thousands, including many of the older structures in Lyttelton, a port town just southeast of the city and closer to the quake's epicentre.

During his weekly general audience on Wednesday, Pope Benedict XVI remembered the people of New Zealand who “are being severely tested by this tragedy.” The Holy Father prayed that God may relieve their suffering.

Listen to report by Kelsea Brennan-Wessels: