A 3-year-old toddler and seven adults, including a longtime missionary, who were kidnapped in the early morning Sunday in Haiti remain in the hands of armed gangs. The kidnapping occurred after a security breach at the Saint Hélène Orphanage in Kenscoff in the hills above gang-ridden Port-au-Prince.

The Irish foreign minister, Simon Harris, has called on Haitian authorities to take all possible action to secure the release of Gena Heraty, an Irish missionary who was kidnapped on Sunday by an armed gang. Also taken prisoner were seven staff at the St Helene Orphanage, which Heraty runs, and a three-year-old child.

Gena Heraty, the facility's director, was among several people taken from the privately run Sainte-Hélène orphanage in Kenscoff, near Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, during the early hours of Sunday morning, according to mayor Massillon Jean.