A group of South Koreans in earthquake-ridden Haiti started fleeing the leveled country while a South Korean businessman remains missing, local media reported Thursday citing diplomatic sources.

Seventeen South Korean residents in Haiti will arrive in the Dominican Republic later Thursday, which neighbors Haiti on the Hispaniola Island in the Caribbean, the Yonhap News Agency said, quoting an official at the South Korean embassy there.

Yonhap said about 70 South Koreans were in Haiti, when the small Caribbean country was struck by a devastating earthquake with a magnitude estimated at 7.0 on Tuesday, followed by a series of aftershocks.

Other remaining South Korean survivors will also begin leaving the country, while South Korea's foreign ministry keeps close taps on South Korean nationals in the region, Yonhap said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 14, 2010)