Hotel shook like a leaf in the wind: Nepal quake survivor from India

For a 43-year-old doctor from Maharashtra, the sight of a shaking hotel in Kathmandu where he stayed when the killer quake stuck Nepal, brought back memories of the massive quake in his native place in 1993, which had claimed around 8,000 lives.

"The luxury hotel building where we were staying began to shake. When we ran outside, we saw the entire building swaying, like a leaf in the blowing wind," Datta Gojamgunde, a leading pediatrician from Latur in the Marathwada region, told PTI here today.

Gojamgunde, who had landed in Nepal a day before the quake to attend an international conference on nutrition, returned to Delhi at 2 am today and caught an early morning flight to Pune, before returning to Latur today evening.

"A lot of people are still trapped there. A lot of Indians are waiting at the airport. Our military is extending the best possible help to them," he said.

"I had gone to Nepal to attend the international conference. Around 70 doctors had gone to Nepal on April 24," he said.

"When the quake struck, I heard a sound like that of a generator -- a whirring sound. Then everything began shaking. Even we were shaken. An old person in the hotel shouted: quake, quake, run run, after which we began running," he said.

"Some of us fell down and glasses started breaking. Pillars started shaking. Chandeliers began shaking," Gojamgunde said.

"After we came down, we saw the whole building shaking. I have experienced the Killari earthquake (in 1993, which claimed around 8,000 lives) but I have not seen an earthquake of such a magnitude," he said.