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Mike West

A WITNEY man working in China has described the moment a massive earthquake struck, killing thousands and leaving millions homeless.

Mike West, of Oxlease, Cogges, was based in the Chengdu region of the country when the quake hit. He travelled to some of the worst affected areas following last week's 7.9-magnitude earthquake, and was one of the first westerners to arrive at the heart of the disaster zone.

The former Witney Rugby Club player, who is working for a medical systems firm in Chengdu, explained what happened after the impact. He said: "Most of the devastation occurred an hour's drive from Chengdu. Our factory is midway between Chengdu and Dujunyang, one of the cities hit by the quake. The immediate reaction after the shock was thinking it must have been a very large tremor. I have been in many parts of the world and experienced quakes of different magnitude, but this was far worse."

Mr West, and colleagues from Alltech Medical Systems, immediately downed tools and headed towards the epicentre to see how they could help.

He travelled with Heart to Heart - an emergency relief charity - and the Red Cross to Shi Fang, about an hour's drive from Chengdu, in a bid to help with the relief effort.

He said: "We were the first western people to arrive there, we delivered bottled water and assessed the situation with a view to setting up a supply point. The area outside the city had been cut off since the quake, and the full extent of the damage was starting to become clear."

Mr West, a former employee at Siemens, in Eynsham, said many survivors began arriving in the city from outlying areas, which had suffered a battering from the quake.

He said: "We visited one of the hospitals, where there was a steady influx of casualties. The medical situation seemed to be coping, although at the time we understood they had only just opened the roads to a new disaster area, so that situation may change."

Mr West described the Chinese relief effort as 'well organised and orderly'. He said: "It was quite a humbling experience to talk with so many young children who were all eager to practise their English at the distribution centre."

2:27pm Tuesday 20th May 2008

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