by Keyan Milanian

Relatives of a Gillingham father of four were moments from disaster as concrete rained down on them in the earthquake that rocked New Zealand.

Members of 44-year-old Rob Toms' family live in Christchurch, where more than 75 people have been killed after a 6.3 magnitude tremor hit the town.

His brother-in-law, James Dunnachie-Young , James's wife, Ailsa and one-year-old son, Lucius, had been shopping in the Eastgate shopping mall when the earthquake shook the town at 12.51pm (local time) on Tuesday.

Mr Toms, of Sovereign Quarter, Gillingham, said: "My wife was worried sick all day long because we had been trying to get hold of them but had had no luck, which was really frightening when you heard how many have died in the disaster."

Moments before the earthquake struck, James had stepped out of a lift in the shopping centre while pushing a shopping trolley while the escalator Ailsa had used while pushing Lucius's pram, collapsed seconds after.

According to Mr Toms, the ceiling in the centre collapsed and Ailsa, 30, shielded her son from concrete which fell from the roof.

Later she had to be taken to hospital for stitches to a shoulder wound caused by the falling debris. James, 32, and his son, escaped unhurt.

Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Toms said: "We are just thankful, considering what has happened, that it was not worse. Only yesterday my wife was on the phone to her brother and there was an aftershock, he never swears but on this occasion he just went quiet and swore.

"The situation is made more difficult by the fact they are so far away, we cannot just pop out and make sure they are alright and there's a big time difference, which also makes things difficult."

• The Red Cross has launched an emergency appeal to help the victims of the disaster. To donate log on to http://www.redcross.org.uk/ or call 0845 054 7200.