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The daughter of a New Zealand woman working in quake-devastated Haiti has been found alive underneath the rubble of their hotel room.
Emily Sanson-Rejouis, 37, who works for the United Nations, made a distraught call to family here via satellite phone on Wednesday night, saying her French-Haitian husband, Emmanuel Sanson-Rejouis, and their three young New Zealand-born daughters were missing in Port-au-Prince and she was struggling to find help among the chaos.
Sanson-Rejouis' Auckland-based stepsister Caroline Larnach says that one of the children, two-year-old Alyahana, was found alive.
It has been reported that the daughter was found alive underneath the body of her dead father however, his death has not been confirmed.
She has one broken leg and the other might be broken, she told
Radio Live.
She says that the family is hoping and praying the other two
children Kofie-Jade, five, and Zenzie, three, are still alive.
Earlier Sanson-Rejouis could hear at least one of her children crying beneath the rubble, Larnach says.
"She can still hear at least one of her children and she's trying to get them out," she says.
"She can hear the children, she can hear her children's cries, she can't get in, she can't speak to them."
Larnach says her step-sister is desperate for help but there is no available aid.
"She's trying to do what she can physically but the building's collapsed."
Sanson-Rejouis was at work when the earthquake struck and was not harmed.
The hotel where the family where staying - the Karibe - was one of many buildings destroyed yesterday by the 7.0 magnitude quake which left 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.
Sanson-Rejouis, who grew up in Nelson, met her husband while working in eastern Europe for the United Nations, later shifting with the agency to Haiti where some of her husband's family are based.
The couple's children three children were all born in New Zealand.
Lanarch says her family had tried all afternoon to contact Sanson-Rejouis after hearing about the quake, and finally heard from her about 7.30pm after she managed to borrow the satellite phone.
Sanson-Rejouis later found her husband's cellphone in the rubble and again contacted family.
Larnach says family are staying in touch with Foreign Affairs, who are communicating with their Australian, British and French counterparts to check what representation is available in the quake-hit region.
She has also been in touch with international aid agencies.
"We are just trying to do everything we can to find out if there are any groups that can help us," she says.
"If there are any organisations or people in New Zealand that can help us find our sister, and help her and her family..."
Another sister, Rachel Sanson, is preparing to leave for Miami on Thursday, but it is not known whether she would be able to go any further.
Meanwhile, international agencies have been putting out requests for emergency aid, while others have been busy trying to reach their staff in Port-au-Prince to confirm they were safe.
Both Unicef and Save the Children say their own offices had been among those buildings damaged, along with the United Nations building which Sanson-Rejouis was working in.
Unicef New Zealand says any working phones are being used to coordinate the emergency response.
"We have very little information at the moment, but early reports are that the population has sustained significant damage, including damage to our own office. We expect to have more information tomorrow," executive director Dennis McKinlay says.
"In the meantime, Unicef is working both locally and
internationally to respond to the humanitarian needs that may arise
from the earthquake, such as lack of clean water and sanitation,
and the spread of diseases."
A family fund has been set up to for help the Rejouis
family.
If you would like to donate - the details are
below.
BNZ Nelson
02 0704 0074227 00
Haiti Earthquake Sanson-Rejouis Family Fund
