The survivors: 'It was hideous. The thing I will never forget was the screaming'

British survivors came back from Bali yesterday, their relief tempered by a delayed comprehension of the horror they had left behind.

Sarah McAllister, an estate agent from Buckingham who was in her hotel bed when the bombs went off on Saturday, said she had not eaten or slept since. "It was hideous, just blood everywhere, but the thing that I will never be able to forget is the screaming," she said. "I can't imagine ever getting rid of that sound in my mind. It will stay with me for ever."

Nikki Bloomfield, 25, a former business manager from Sunningdale, Berkshire, said she was haunted by the sight of people with missing limbs. "It really hit me at the airport in Bali," she said. "There were just people lying around with bandages round their heads and their legs covered in blood."

Arriving at Heathrow airport last night, Rachel Griffiths, a caravan park manager from Tenby, Dyfed, spoke of the heroic acts of her British travelling companion, Jonathan Hartery.

Mr Hartery, 25, who was on a round-the-world trip with his girlfriend, Nicola Trott, 29, and her flatmate, Ms Griffiths, 28, pulled them from the flaming wreckage at the club. The trio had been in Bali for two hours.

Ms Griffiths said: "There was a huge bang and we felt what we thought was a massive explosion from outside. We presumed it was from the bar opposite. The next thing all the lights went out and we were in the dark.

"Nicola was trapped partly under the roof because it had come down on top of us. After the explosion I thought we would get out but for a split second, when I saw the flames they were very, very severe and very hot, and I thought maybe we wouldn't."

She said Mr Hartery tunnelled through the wreckage to create an escape route for them, adding: "What he did speaks for itself ­ he's a hero."

Mary King, a backpacker from Liverpool, managed to pull her friend, Jamie Culshaw, 22, to safety, despite struggling with leg injuries and burns. However, she believes that two travel companions in her group, who she thought were from Sheffield, were killed.

Carla King, Mary's sister, said Ms King had told her that she had seen Ms Culshaw's arm beneath the wreckage. She said: "Mary told us that the place was completely pitch black and engulfed in fire. The roof caved in and she was blown out of her shoes. She was screaming for Jamie and for some unknown reason, saw an arm sticking out from beneath the rubble. It was Jamie. There were bodies everywhere but she managed to drag her out. Her foot was gashed open and bleeding but she still tried to help people."

Other passengers stepping off the Garuda Indonesia jet at Gatwick earlier in the day said they were thankful to have survived. Kerry O'Shaughnessy, 28, and her boyfriend, Andy Swan, had just caught a taxi back to their hotel when the bomb exploded. Mr Swan, a bar manager from Exeter, said: "There were these two amazing bangs followed by a shower of glass and debris. The taxi driver froze and so we got out and started running with everyone else away from the blast."