Funeral Held for Toddler Earthquake Victim
in New Zealand
Friends and family gather in New Zealand for a memorial service for one of the youngest victims of last week's devastating earthquake.
Baxtor Gowland was five-months-old.
Last Tuesday's 6.3 magnitude earthquake reduced much of Christchurch to piles of rubble.
With the mourning process only just beginning, New Zealand's Prime Minister, John Key, says the economic impact on the city will be enormous as well.
[John Key, New Zealand Prime Minister]:
"The earthquake's effects will be felt for many years to come but government will provide the financial resources needed both for the short and longer term, supporting and rebuilding Christchurch are among the most important things that government will be doing this year and into the future. The treasury has provided us with a preliminary estimate of the earthquake's cost and economic impact and it suggests that the total cost of the damage of the earthquake is likely to be in order of 10 to 15 billion dollars, put another way, two to three times the five billion dollars of the estimated cost of the first earthquake. So at this stage, the likely combined cost of two earthquakes is around 20 billion dollars."
As rescue efforts continue, forecasters are watching the weather carefully - concerned that high winds may further aggravate the already dust-filled city.
The nation will observe a two-minute moment of silence on March 1 at 12:51pm, exactly one week since the earthquake struck.
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