Holidaymakers describe 'chaos' after quake hits Bangkok

Rescue teams at the site of a collapsed building in Thailand's capital Bangkok

Holidaymakers have told of the moment the effects of a devastating earthquake brought chaos to Bangkok.

Hundreds of people are believed to have died in neighbouring Myanmar, the epicentre of the 7.7 magnitude quake.

Angela Jenkins and her husband Douglas, from Lewis in the Western Isles, were in a shopping centre in the Thai capital when the ground began to shake and shoppers started screaming and shouting.

Mrs Jenkins said: "My husband grabbed my hand and we just ran for the door - it was just chaos. Nobody knew what was going on."

Angela Jenkins is on holiday in Thailand with her husband, Douglas

The couple had signed up to an app to get earthquake warnings, but did not receive an alert.

Mrs Jenkins said she had felt faint moments before the tremor struck the shopping mall and she held on to a shop counter to keep her balance.

"The next thing everyone started screaming and shouting and running. It was really frightening," she said.

"It felt like the ground was moving. It felt as if I was on a boat and it was swaying."

Outside, the couple joined others in looking to the skyline to try and make sense of what was happening.

She said: "Everyone was looking up, but we were just looking straight and running - I suppose you're thinking a terror incident. We ran for quite a bit."

Mrs Jenkins said they then rushed away from the scene.

She added: "There were ambulances and fire engines screaming around the streets.

"It was really scary. There was a young girl besides us crying and went and spoke to her.

"People were still shouting - a man in the café behind us came out and spoke good English and I asked him what was happening and he said it was an earthquake."

Crowds were on the streets on Bangkok during the quake

Mrs Jenkins said the couple feared there would then be aftershocks, and that everyone felt "clueless" about what to do.

The couple said they managed to get back to their hotel but it took five hours instead of half an hour.

However she said things seemed "calmer" now and that the couple were intending to carry on with their holiday.

Keith Mcilwraith, from Dumfries, told BBC Radio Scotland's Drivetime programme the incident had left him "in shock" as he watched a high-rise building collapse.

He has been in Thailand since the beginning of February and plans to return to Scotland on Monday.

He said: "I was randomly visiting a fish market in Chatuchak when the earthquake struck. I didn't feel anything at first but then there was a commotion.

"People started to run and someone told me I need to go. I ran out of the market and looked up and saw a crane swaying on top of a building.

"I just watched a 25 storey building fall to the ground in front of me. I could not believe what I was seeing.

"There was a huge cloud of smoke coming my way and I thought 'I need to get out of here'. It was utter chaos, people screaming and whistling. I got myself out the way pretty quick."

Rescue personal have been searching through the rubble in Bangkok

At least 144 people have died and 732 have been injured so far in Myanmar, according to Myanmar military leader Min Aung Hlaing.

In Thailand, which borders Myanmar to the east, seven people have died and 81 construction workers are missing after the collapse of the unfinished high-rise building.

The total number of people killed and injured by the earthquake are expected to rise in the coming days.

The earthquake measured as 7.7 on the Richter scale at about midday local time (06:00 GMT).

Four smaller shocks ranging between 4.5 and 6.6 in magnitude have been measured since.