Dunedin woman in Beirut learns of father's death on eve of flight home

Maroun Sfeir, Enzo Butler-Sfeir and Lorna Butler are flying from Beirut to New Zealand. Photo / Supplied

A Dunedin woman on her way home from Beirut is heartbroken it is too late to see her father.

Lorna Butler said her father, Stanley Butler (80), who was in the intensive care unit at Southland Hospital in Invercargill this week, had died.

The sad news came on the eve of her Butler's flight to New Zealand with her family.

Butler, her husband Maroun Sfeir and their son Enzo Butler-Sfeir (4) are due to arrive in New Zealand at 2.30am tomorrow.

She had been desperate to see her dad and was "broken" that she was unable to make it happen, she said.

She and her family had been looking to move to New Zealand since May.

Fallout from Covid-19 was one impediment to confirming a flight. Access to money in Lebanon was another problem.

The couple were also on the outskirts of Beirut on August 4 when explosions at the Lebanese capital's port killed more than 170 people and caused extensive damage to buildings.

The arrangements for the family's flight came together this week.