A TEEN from Swanage has spoken of the 'nightmare' situation in Nepal after an earthquake struck while he was visiting the country.

Frank Morley, 18, who is on a gap year after taking his A-Levels at Poole Grammar School, said that he arrived in Kathmandu just a day before the earthquake struck on Saturday, April 25, and saw the 'chaos' of the aftermath.

He said: "I was in my hotel room when it happened. Everything in the room, the bed and the furniture, was shaking.

He added: "It was quite a big building, but there was only about 10 people in the hotel at the time, so we rushed outside and stood in the courtyard.

"You could see that all the buildings were unstable. It was scary for a few days.

"There wasn't any police around to help. It was a nightmare. You had to work out everything for yourself. It was like every man for himself.

"The day it happened I was walking around the area and it was chaos. People were rushing around aimlessly and seemed to be driving but not really going anywhere.

"In the evening, the staff at the hotel told us to sleep in the hotel lobby so that they could wake us up if the earthquake struck again or the building started to collapse."

Franks said that there was no way he could have got some sleep in the hotel, so he headed to a local park because it was an open space, where he found around 300 people camping out.

He later headed to the British Embassy for help and to organise a new passport after his was lost. "The staff were really helpful and gave me food and shelter there.

"Fortunately, I managed to get my parents to book me a flight out of there to Heathrow."

Asked how he felt when he boarded the plane home, Frank said: "It was just relief and kind of sadness because I didn't want to leave Nepal yet. Through the plane windows, you could see the city below and it was sad to see.

"The roads aren't too good out there, so it will take a while for the aid to reach the people."

Frank said that he was pleased to arrive safely home in Swanage, where he lives with dad, Frank, and mum, Dawn, after arriving back in the UK on Wednesday morning.

The death toll in Kathmandu currently stands at 5,500 people, with at least 11,000 people reported as being injured. The United Nations (UN) says that more than eight million people have been afftected by the earthquake and some 70,000 houses have been destroyed.