Families of Japanese quake victims may sue

The families of the Japanese students who died when the Canterbury TV building collapsed in the February earthquake in Christchurch are considering taking legal action.

Dozens of students studying at an English language school were among the around 100 people killed when the Madras Street building was flattened in the 6.3 magnitude quake.

The Toyama College of Foreign Languages lost 12 students in the collapse. Nine students were rescued from the building and four of them remain in hospital.

College professor Kuniaki Kawahata, who lost his 20-year-old daughter, Kyoko Kawahata, in the building, said from Japan that the families wanted answers.

"Parents of the deceased children want to know why that building alone collapsed so terribly and killed our children,' he told The Press.

"All the other buildings are standing, so they need to know why.

"If someone is to blame, I think they probably want to take some legal action, but first they want to make sure the same thing doesn't happen again and cause this kind of tragedy. That is all they want to do."

College president Hisao Yoshida was in Wellington yesterday to visit rescued student Rika Iwakura, 19, in Wellington Hospital.

Ms Iwakura had her right leg amputated and is on dialysis.

Mr Kawahata said three 19-year-old students rescued from the CTV building were in Japanese hospitals.

Kento Okuda had his right leg amputated, Norika Masutani had a "black and badly bruised" left foot, and Ayaka Naruse had a fractured hip bone and could only move around on crutches or in a wheelchair.