By Kloe Palmer
Today started a lot like this day a year ago – a warm, still, summer morning. That is where the similarities end.
Flags were half mast on top of buildings that have been off limits for exactly a year now.
Hundreds of people made their way to Latimer Square to remember the 185 men and women who died when Christchurch crumbled.
This morning’s service was specifically for the relatives of the dead and to recognise the emergency workers who ran straight into a scene of devastation.
Mayor Bob Parker the service was about that “incredible bond” that was built between everyone.
“[The] families and the first responders who in those first days became such an important part of our world.”
The location of the service was fitting; it was where a makeshift triage centre was set up following the quake.
Prime Minister John Key said he will never forget coming in the hours after the February 22 quake.
“People were huddled under blankets, sirens were blaring and dust and smoke was thick in the air.”
There were speeches and songs and the first of many prayers.
Maybe the most poignant was from a Japanese minister who lost 28 of his country men and women who were killed when the Canterbury Television building collapsed.
Judging by the size of the international media contingent covering the service, it is obvious last year’s disaster has been felt around the world.
The national anthem concluded the short ceremony and as the crowds moved on construction work continued, just a block away, in the red zone.
3 News