Ipswich Town Fan: Missing In NZ

26 February 2011, 08:17 | Updated: 8 March 2011, 10:35

A man, who has been described as an avid Ipswich town fan and who's family live in Bury St Edmunds, has been missing since the massive earthquake hit in New Zealand on Tuesday.

41-year-old Phil Coppeard, from Bury St Edmunds, recently moved to the country from the UK with his wife Suzanne Craig. He was last seen on a bus going into Christchurch.

Mr Coppeard's older sister, 44-year-old Jo Morley who lives in Bury St Edmunds said: ``At the moment there is no news. We've contacted the Foreign Office both here and in New Zealand and when there's something new we will be told.

We are regularly in contact with my brother's wife, Suzanne, in New Zealand and when there is something new happening, we will hear.''

She added that she was taking comfort from the miraculous tales of survival following the Haiti earthquake, saying:"Of course you still hope, as anybody would do. That's what we have to think.''

Christchurch mayor Bob Parker assured relatives of the missing that every effort was being made to locate any remaining survivors.

Fresh aftershocks in Christchurch have caused more damage to buildings and 144 people are now known to have died. 200 people are still missing after the quake hit on Tuesday lunchtime.