By Dan Parker
Before any bodies can be brought out, the cathedral must first be stabilised.
Sight-seers were known to have been in the steeple when it collapsed, crashing into an area where there were more tourists.
The victims remain trapped under piles of rubble right up to the windows.
“It's a very delicate task, because the building is quite unsafe, and we can't put these guys into a dangerous situation. I think they are going to be removing another part of the tower and they may have to take down part of the west wall if not altogether,” says Dean Peter Beck.
Bricks and mortar were still falling when 3 News arrived minutes after the quake, while dazed survivors comforted each other, Beck realised his cathedral had become a tomb.
He believes all the victims were tourists. Staff and volunteers have all been accounted for.
“I haven't cried yet but I think I'm on the verge of it it's just the enormity of the whole thing mate,” says Dean Beck.
The Cathedral has been at the heart of the city since construction started over 140 years ago. The Mayor says its restoration will be a source of inspiration for the rest of the city.
“We can show the world that not only can we survive this and go forward, that we can remember what we stand for, what’s gone before, those we know we have lost already. Perhaps this could be the symbol we need,” says Mayor Bob Parker.
Mayor Parker says there a long list of things that need to come first including rescue and recovery, water, sewerage, roads and power.
But Dean Beck says he's pleased to hear the Cathedral may be saved.
“It's a place where the city comes to celebrate and to grieve, weddings, funerals, all the time going on a wonderful choir, all that life of the cathedral will come back, we will do this,” he says.
Many other places of worship, including the Catholic Cathedral, have also taken a battering.
Beck says 12 Anglican churches were destroyed in last September's earthquake, this time around 14 more were ruined
Those aftershocks also mean it could be days before the bodies in the cathedral are finally recovered.
3 News