THERE ARE FEARS over the fate of an Irish man who is believed to be trapped under the rubble of one of the buildings most badly affected by Tuesday’s earthquake in Christchurch.

The man, who is understood to be from the Munster region, had recently begun working at the Pyne Gould Guiness accountancy firm, whose main premises was one of those most badly affected.

Members of the man’s family confirmed this evening that the man – who is aged 40 – had moved to New Zealand from London last year, and begun working in PGG shortly afterward.

The Irish ambassador to Australia, Máirtín Ó Fainín, has arrived in Christchurch to oversee the Irish aspect of the recovery operations, having met with the Irish consul based in Auckland.

Reports in New Zealand suggested that a pocket of 15-or-so survivors had been located inside PGG. Eight survivors were recovered from the building on Wednesday.

The man’s wife, a native New Zealander, has been at the PGG Building since Tuesday’s 6.3-magnitude earthquake. She is understood to be pregnant with the couple’s second child; they have a young son.

Though some reports in New Zealand had suggested the search at PGG had been called off, a spokeswoman for the Christchurch recovery operations told TheJournal.ie tonight that the search at PGG was ongoing.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said there were “conflicting reports in the media” that there may have been an Irish person at the PGG site, but that it understood rescue efforts were continuing at the building.

“Irish diplomats on the ground are in contact with the NZ rescue services to establish the exact situation,” a spokesman said.