'Entire building was shaken, everyone ran': Indian tourists return to Delhi from Bangkok after earthquake; recount harrowing experiences

Following the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that was felt across Myanmar, Thailand, China, and Vietnam, Indian tourists in Bangkok safely returned to New Delhi Airport on Saturday, recounting the difficulties they faced in getting back home.

Speaking to ANI at Delhi airport, Bharati Khurana described the challenges they encountered due to emergency closures in the city. "The situation is fine now, but yesterday it was very bad. We went out to the market, but it was closed due to the emergency. We had a lot of trouble there. We couldn’t even get a taxi to the airport," she said, adding that even emergency vehicles were unavailable at the time.

Another Indian tourist, Pranav, recalled the moment panic set in as their hotel building began shaking violently. "When we were inside the building, the entire structure was shaking, and then everyone ran away. We sat outside for at least two hours. We were in the Prince Palace Hotel on the 24th floor when the shaking started," he told ANI.


John, an international tourist who was in Bangkok’s Chinatown at the time, described the panic when the tremors struck. "I was actually in Chinatown, which is another place to shop. All of a sudden, the floor started moving. I looked down, and then everybody started screaming and panicking, trying to exit the market through these little narrow passages," he told ANI.

Recounting the collapse of buildings around them, John added, "We were all pretty scared, running, screaming, pushing to get out of the building. Nothing happened in that market in Chinatown, but as we can see here in Chatuchak, it was a different story... I'm not too sure what building that was. It was under construction and, I guess, 30 stories high. We saw the pictures of the collapse, so I'm sure there's a lot of people under this rubble."

Earlier, a 30-storey under-construction building collapsed in front of JJ Mall in Bangkok’s Chatuchak market following the earthquake, which had its epicenter in Myanmar’s Mandalay region and was felt across several countries.

According to Bangkok Deputy Governor Tavida Kamolvej, at least 10 people were killed, 16 injured, and 101 others were reported missing across three construction sites in Bangkok, including the collapsed government building, Bangkok Post reported.

With inputs from ANI