Wellington, July 7 — A Tiffany diamond bangle stuffed in a sock was among hundreds of items retrieved from Christchurch hotels abandoned during February’s earthquake and now returned to their owners, reports said Wednesday. Other pieces of abandoned luggage included thousands of dollars in foreign banknotes hidden in a fake soft drink can and a rare Steiff teddy bear belonging to an Australian child. Hotel guests had to flee for their lives during the 6.3 tremor which claimed 181 lives and leave their luggage in buildings which in some cases remained unsafe to enter for months, the New Zealand Herald reported.
–Agencies