Nepal earthquake: TV presenter Amanda Holden reveals her sister is trapped on Mount Everest

The presenter spoke about how her sister survived the terrifying ordeal

Amanda Holden spoke of her family's relief that her sister, Debbie, has survived

This Morning presenter Amanda Holden has spoken of her horror as her sister Debbie is stranded on Mount Everest following the earthquakes in Nepal.

"I'm still quite numb, it's hard to take in what an awful situation it is in Nepal," she said on Monday morning's programme.

Holden explained that her sister had been suffering from bad altitude sickness, which meant that she hasn't climbed very high.

"My sister is climbing Everest, and very luckily she was suffering - she's at a place called Gorak Shep, which is the last camp before you get to Base Camp - and there was only four of them left at that camp because my sister was suffering so badly from altitude sickness, so she didn't go up to Base Camp. Potentially, that may have saved her life."

The earthquake caused an avalanche at Base Camp, leaving at least 18 people dead.

Holden's sister was able to make contact with her family to let them know that she was alive. She said that helicopters were scanning the side of the mountain to establish whether it was safe to walk on the snow.

Experts on the programme reassured Holden that her sister would have a guide with her, and that the group would not have been abandoned.

The Red Cross has set up a website to help people desperate to track their loved ones in Nepal.

More than 2,500 people are estimated to have been killed by the earthquake and the aftershock in the Kathmandu Valley.

The power of the earthquake that measured 7.8 on the Richter scale was likened to 20 atomic bombs going off at once.