A Kiwi woman searching for her family in Haiti has managed to get her youngest daughter, Alyahna, out of the rubble alive.
Emily Sanson-Rejouis's daughter was pulled from underneath her father's body, her step-sister Caroline Larnach told RadioLIVE.
"To get to her, they had to move her father, he threw himself over her to protect her," she said.
Mrs Sanson-Rejouis's two other daughters Zenzie and Kofie-Jade are still buried under toppled buildings.
Emily Sanson-Rejouis, 37, rushed to her hotel from her Port-au-Prince workplace at the UN following yesterday's 7.0 magnitude quake to find it had been reduced to rubble.
Her Auckland-based step-sister, Caroline Larnach, told 3 News that Ms Sanson-Rejouis' husband, French-Haitian national Emmanuel, and their three young children were staying at the Karibe Hotel when the quake struck.
Ms Larnach said that Alyahna was badly bruised but breathing.
Mrs Sanson-Rejouis could hear at least one of her children crying beneath the rubble, Ms Larnach said.
"She can still hear at least one of her children and she's trying to get them out," she told Radio New Zealand.
She said her step-sister's desperate situation was heightened by the fact that communications were down and the scale of the disaster meant help was almost impossible to find.
She was able to borrow a satellite phone and briefly call her family in Auckland, but by late last night there had been no further contact and the family feared the worst.
Ms Larnach said family members were distraught and desperate, and the only thread of communication with Haiti and Port-au-Prince was via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade here, which was liaising with French, British and United States counterparts.
Ms Larnach said another sister of Ms Sanson-Rejouis' was heading to Miami tomorrow to be closer to her, but the family was desperate to find any outfit or individual in Haiti or with contacts there who may be able to offer help.
Ms Sanson-Rejouis' and her husband's children are aged five, three and two.
By late last night the death toll in Haiti was feared to be in the thousands.
International agencies were putting out requests for emergency aid, while others were busy trying to reach their staff in the city to confirm they were safe.
Both Unicef and Save the Children said their own offices had been among those buildings damaged, along with the United Nations building which Ms Sanson-Rejouis was working in.
Unicef New Zealand said any working phones were currently 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 said.
"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."
NZPA