Nepal earthquake: British man tells of 'horror' in Kathmandu as he arrives back in UK

Tom Greensmith and his girlfriend heard 'screams' as their hotel collapsed

(BBC)

A British man who survived the earthquake in Nepal has described the moment it struck and the terror that followed as the land around him was destroyed.

Tom Greensmith, who was staying at a hotel in Kathmandu, told the BBC upon his arrival at Heathrow airport that the suffering in Nepal was "horrendous" and that he and his girlfriend could "hear the screams from a children's school" as buildings began to collapse.

Greensmith is believed to be the first Briton who was caught up in the disaster to return to the UK.

He and his girlfriend, Ms Mentor King, slept on a tennis court on the roof of a hotel in Kathmandu before they were given emergency documents by the British Embassy.

His mother, Pam Greensmith, said her legs "turned to jelly" when she received a voicemail from her son saying: "I’m alive, mum."

Around 30 British and Irish families are reportedly still waiting for news of their loved ones who may have been in Nepal at the time of the earthquake.

Meanwhile the first supplies of food aid have begun to reach the remote, shattered mountain villages, as thousands clamoured to board buses out of Kathmandu.

Frustration over the delayed delivery of aid boiled into a protest of around 200 people in the city, who confronted police and blocked traffic.

Police arrested dozens of people on suspicion of looting or causing panic by spreading rumours that there would be a second big quake.

The death toll has passed 5,000 people since the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck on Saturday 25 April, and Nepal’s prime minister Sushil Koirala has said it could eventually rise to more than 10,000.

Additional reporting by PA