A British tourist in Thailand’s capital Bangkok has relived the terrifying moment a deadly 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit the country and neighbouring Myanmar, causing “cracks to appear” in his office building. Today was meant to be just a normal working day for the Brit, 34, but instead has been left “shaken” after the horrifying turn of events.
The trained chef, was standing in his office talking to a colleague when the quake struck at lunch time on Friday local time, prompting evacuations across the city and causing everyone in his office to run outside screaming. A second quake, with a magnitude of 6.4, shook the area 12 minutes later. His mum Jaine Brent, a PR consultant, told the Express that her son’s legs “went funny” moments before and strangely there was “no warning about what was about to happen”.
She said: “My son was in the office talking to a colleague when suddenly his legs went funny and he had to sit down. Then the same thing happened to his colleague and people in his office started screaming.
“Cracks started appearing in the building and it was shaking. Everyone ran out of the building. Some building sites have completely collapsed.
“There was no warning this was about to happen, you would think in the 21st century there would be the technology to issue some sort of an alarm.”
The worried mum’s “heart sank” when she tuned into LBC at around 8am this morning from her Lancashire home to discover the horrifying news and was distraught with worry about her son, who doesn’t wish to be named.
“When I heard the news on LBC radio my heart sank and I grabbed my mobile to call my son who lives in Bangkok with his fiancé.
“He was shaken but ok. “It is absolutely chaotic there, the roads are gridlocked, people are going to the airport with suitcases to try and escape.
“It is so sad. I went out there in January and I absolutely loved it. It really is such a beautiful country with beautiful people and they really look after their staff. The respect they have for their elders is incredible.”
Emergency services are continuing to assess affected areas in Bangkok and respond to reports of injuries and structural damage. Hospitals and first responders have been placed on high alert, and officials are warning that aftershocks could pose additional dangers in the coming hours and days.