'We immediately booked flight and came back to India': Indians returning to Kolkata recall Myanmar earthquake terror

NEW DELHI: Indian passengers arriving at Kolkata airport from Bangkok shared harrowing experiences of the powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck Myanmar and Thailand on Friday morning, killing at least 144 people and injuring over 700.
Several passengers described the chaos and fear they witnessed in Bangkok. Alok Mittal, who was at a mall when the tremors hit, recalled how shopkeepers evacuated and people were forced to sit on the streets for hours.

"The situation was dangerous. Luckily, we were on the ground floor of the mall. All the shopkeepers went out of the mall. We were sitting on the streets for 6 hours... We immediately booked a flight and came back to India," he said.
Another passenger, Dilip Agarwal, recounted scenes of panic and destruction. "The earthquake was massive. We were at a mall, everyone started running in panic. We saw a building collapse. The people in Bangkok are scared," he added.

Among the returning travellers, Ranjan Banerjee recounted the chaos in Bangkok. He described how malls and office buildings were swiftly evacuated when the tremors hit, though the situation had since returned to normal.

"The situation is normal right now, but when it happened, there was an emergency situation. Malls and offices were evacuated. The Metro rail system was shut," Ranjan Banerjee said.
Recalling the chaos, Sanjiv Dutta, who also returned from Bangkok, said, "My bed started shaking when the earthquake took place. After I woke up, I saw that the building was shaking. Later, I saw people running in panic. I came to the ground floor from the seventh floor and waited there for some time. There was huge traffic. It took 5-6 hours to cover 30 kilometres..."

Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in Thailand confirmed that no Indian citizens were reported hurt.
In a post on X, the embassy stated, "After powerful earthquake tremors recorded in Bangkok and in other parts of Thailand, the Embassy is closely monitoring the situation in coordination with the Thai authorities. So far, no untoward incident involving any Indian citizen has been reported. In case of any emergency, Indian nationals in Thailand are advised to contact the emergency number +66 618819218. All members of the Indian Embassy in Bangkok and Consulate in Chiang Mai are safe."
According to the National Center for Seismology, Myanmar experienced six earthquakes on Friday, compounding the region's devastation.