Hong Kong survivor suffers flashbacks of Nepal earthquake tragedy

A week on from the deadly earthquake in Nepal, Alice Wong Nga-sze still shudders whenever she has to take an escalator. When she takes a lift, she grabs the wall to steady herself as the movement and vibration brings back memories of the tragedy.

"Many times I will climb up the steps instead of taking an escalator," said Wong, a stewardess. "Flashbacks of when I was in Nepal still come to me from time to time."

Wong, who is also a Hong Kong representative for the Umbrella Foundation - a non-profit organisation which focuses on alleviating the impact of trafficking, poverty and war on children and their families in Nepal - was delivering materials for the group's childcare homes in Kathmandu when the quake hit.

She was in a taxi with the group's Nepal team director on April 25. "At first the taxi was shaking slightly and I thought it was just a flat tire," Wong said. "But then it became quite shaky."

Wong said the director realised that it was an earthquake and told her to get out of the taxi.

Right after they and the driver got out, a building collapsed on to the taxi. "If I got out seconds later, I would have been buried in the debris," she said.