Daughter alive after Kiwi family trapped in Haiti quake

DISTRAUGHT: Kiwi mum Emily Rejouis is searching for her daughters, Zenzie, 3, and Kofie-Jade, in earthquake-devastated Haiti. Her husband, Emmanuel has died. Youngest daughter Alyahna, 2, has been found alive.

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FAMILY PORTRAIT: Emily and Emmanuel Rejouis and their daughters Zenzie, 3, Alyahna, 2, and Kofie-Jade, 5.

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A New Zealander whose husband was killed and two daughters are missing after a massive earthquake feared to have killed 100,000 people in the Caribbean nation Haiti yesterday is now in the Dominican Republic.

Emily Sanson-Rejouis' French-Haitian husband, Emmanuel Sanson-Rejouis was killed in the 7.0 magnitude quake yesterday morning (NZT) and their New Zealand-born daughters, Kofie-Jade, five, and Zenzie, three, are missing.

Their youngest daughter Alyahna, two, was rescued after being found under her father's body. She had one broken leg and possibly a second.

Ms Sanson-Rejouis, 37, who was in Haiti working for the United Nations, contacted her sister Rachel Sanson early this evening.

She and her daughter were now in hospital in the Dominican Republic, the family said in a statement tonight.

They were not sure how the pair had got there, but were relieved they were safe.

Ms Sanson-Rejouis' mother, Jennie Wilson, father Roger Sanson and her sister Rachel Sanson were travelling to Miami.

Her husband's family in Florida were trying to get to the Dominican Republic to support the mother and daughter, the family said.

The search continued for missing girls

Emily's brother Jamie Larnach said they had heard that Alyahna had been pulled out via a text message from Emily, though they had heard little else.

Members of the Rotary Club in Haiti and an Irish non-profit organisation were with Ms Rejouis at the building where the family was trapped, trying to help free them.

"We are thankful for all the help that we've received," Mr Larnach said.

The quake occurred at 4.53 pm local time, and was centred about 15km west of the capital, the US Geological Survey said. It caused so much destruction that authorities have no idea how many lives have been claimed, other than to say it may be more than 100,000.

Ms Rejouis, originally from Nelson, rang her step-sister Caroline Larnach in Auckland last night on a borrowed satellite phone amid the chaos in Haiti because there were no emergency services on the ground.

Ms Rejouis had earlier told her family in New Zealand that her husband, Emmanuel – a French Haitian – and their daughters Kofie-Jade, 5, Zenzie, 3, and Alyahna, 2, were under the rubble and no-one was searching for them.

"Emily was at work when the earthquake struck...she found her way to the hotel where Emmanuel was with the three little girls," Ms Larnach said last night.

"When she got there the hotel was collapsed and she had no way of knowing what had happened to her family."

An emotional Ms Larnach said the family was desperate to get help to find her step-sister's family.

"We're just absolutely desperate to have some help for our family. We're just absolutely distraught with what's happening.

"We need support from the New Zealand Government and from any services that are represented in Haiti."

Ms Rejouis had returned from the collapsed United Nations building to the Karibe Hotel in Port-au-Prince, to find it a pile of rubble.

The couple met on a United Nations mission in war-torn Eastern Europe about 10 years ago and had been working at a UN mission in Haiti for about six months.

Ms Larnach said the family was racked with worry and only had limited contact with Ms Rejouis.

A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully said MFAT was aware of a New Zealand family needing assistance.

Officials had appealed to countries with embassies in Haiti to help.

The Government had no immediate aid response to the earthquake, but it would keep monitoring the situation and any appeals for assistance.

- with The Press, NZPA, AP,

- © Fairfax NZ News