Skellerup plants largely undamaged after NZ earthquake

ERJ staff report (DS)

Christchurch, New Zealand -- Skellerup Holdings has said no-one was seriously injured and its buildings and factories sustained only light damage after the large earthquake which affected New Zealand's South Island over the weekend.

The company issued a statement saying, "The 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck Christchurch on Saturday 4 September 2010 has caused a lot of infrastructural damage within the city and fortunately it appears that there are no casualties and as few as two serious injuries."

Skellerup has two factory locations and a separate warehouse in Christchurch all located in Woolston, 3km south east of Christchurch whilst the epicenter of the earthquake was located beneath Darfield, 45 km west of Christchurch. Skellerup employs more than 270 people in New Zealand with over 200 of those employees in Woolston.

Acting Chief Executive Officer David Mair said that even though there was a shift working on site at the time of the earthquake, no one has been injured.

“It is incredible that not only have there been no injuries to staff, it appears that there is little or no significant damage to buildings or machinery. Our immediate focus is to make sure that all our staff are safe and well." he said.

The company said electricity, town water supply and all computer and communication systems are functioning on all three sites. Local management has been carefully checking the sites and the outlook is very positive.

The company said there would be no significant disruption to business and it also has comprehensive material damage and business interruption insurance cover.

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Press release from Skellerup