By Dave Goosselink
Reasons behind the collapse of the CTV building will be the focus as the Royal Commission hearings restart tomorrow.
The building saw the biggest loss of life in last February’s quake, where 115 people died in the collapse and subsequent fire.
A school hall is set to become a courtroom, with the next stage of hearings looking to determine what caused the catastrophic collapse of the CTV building.
“This is quite a technical enquiry about building failure,” says family and community liaison Kate Collins. “But it's also about those who died in the building and those who loved them who are left behind.”
Sixteen months on, the disaster is still raw for many victims' families, who are simply hoping for some honesty.
“I'm not after blame,” says families’ spokesman Brian Kennedy. “An apology from people if they think they've made an error would be nice.”
Two Christchurch companies are lending their technical expertise.
The entire hearing is being live streamed on the internet, along with a searchable archive.
That footage will also be used by international broadcasters, with the collapse claiming victims from eight countries.
“[The aim is] that those families and friends of those killed in the CTV building had good access to what was happening at the Royal Commission, and know basically what happened to their children, to their loved ones,” says Dave Dunlay of Tandem Studios.
Visual imaging company Truescape has created a 3D interactive model of the CTV building, similar to an existing one of Britomart in Auckland, to assist experts in discussing the specifics of what wrong.
“Focus can be made on various pillars, and other aspects of that model as questions are asked about it,” says Sam Chaffey of Truescape.
Around 80 witnesses will be called over the next eight weeks, to try and determine why one building caused such large loss of life.
3 News