The New Zealand police have collected DNA samples from the father of two South Korean siblings who went missing during the powerful earthquake that hit Christchurch last Monday.

The family of the two missing South Koreans had earlier flown to Christchurch.
The local police visited the father on Monday and also examined some items that belonged to the two missing people.

The South Korean Embassy in New Zealand says the police informed the family of its intent to go through the belongings in order to properly identify the Korean brother and sister in consideration of a worst-case scenario.

The embassy says it is not known whether the siblings were among the 148 people who are confirmed to have died in the earthquake, and that it is expected to take at least a month to identify the deceased.