Welsh teacher thought she was going to die

A Welsh teacher whose apartment walls started to crumble after an earthquake in south-east Asia said she believed she was about to die.

Isabelle Willis, 26, from New Quay, Ceredigion, has been teaching English in Bangkok, Thailand, for six months and felt the tremor after the earthquake in Myanmar on Friday.

More than 1,700 people are thought to have been killed and 3,400 injured, following the powerful 7.7 magnitude quake.

“It started banging. I could hear terrifying noises. The building cracking, things falling,” said Ms Willis.

Ms Willis was at her apartment at the time and said she started to feel “dizzy” before things got “really bad”.

“I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I thought ‘I need to get out of here’.”

She said she ran out of the room and as she looked at her wall she could see a crack.

“I could see people running, sprinting down the stairwell. I was desperate to get out.

“I was like, ‘wow, this is how people die’. I thought ‘this is it’.”

The magnitude 7.7 quake was felt in Myanmar, Thailand and south-west China.

In Bangkok, at least have 18 lost their lives, according to authorities, and many are missing after a high-rise building collapsed.

Ms Willis, along with the other residents, managed to leave the building safely with just minor injuries. She is staying at a hotel until her accommodation is made safe.

“It was just a surreal experience,” she recalled.

“Some kids were crying… people were just holding each other, taking care of the elderly too, we had a massive shock.

“I’m devastated for the people in Myanmar too. It’s just awful.”