FRIENDS of a Kent family who were feared to have been victims of the tsunami disaster are today celebrating news that they have been found alive and well.

Gareth Smith, his wife Floryda, and sons Zerubbabel, nine, and Joshua, six, from Beltinge, near Herne Bay, were on the island of Sipora, off the northwest coast of Sumatra, near the epicentre of the earthquake and resultant tsunami.

It has emerged this morning that they survived the wave which was not as high as in other cases, and are in Jakarta awaiting a flight home.

Fears had grown about the famiy after their church and relatives had not heard from them.

Herne Bay Baptist Church, where the family worship, will be holding a charity restaurant on Saturday from 10am-2pm to raise money for the tsunami appeal.

The Rev Tom McKinley, minister of Herne Bay Baptist Church, spoke to KM-fm spoke about the good news...