Shattered cathedral is quake city's 'broken heart'

CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND - When the shaking subsided and he emerged from his study to see dust billowing through Christchurch cathedral, Dean Peter Beck knew the heart of the city was broken.

Not only did up to 22 people die under debris falling from the 19th century structure, but its famous spire toppled spectacularly, symbolising the city's ruin.

"The cathedral is seen somehow in a sense as the icon of the city, it holds somehow its heart in a sense, and so that's become the symbol of this place," Beck told AFP...» more.

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