A charity worker has spoken of the devastation she has witnessed in earthquake-ravaged Sumatra.

Becky Maynard, from Chiswick, who works for disaster relief charity Shelterbox, arrived near the epicentre on Monday and is delivering urgent aid to survivors with a team of volunteers.

The 7.6 magnitude earthquake on September 30 tore apart buildings and sparked landslides, trapping thousands under rubble - with the start of the rainy season threatening to hamper rescue efforts to free them.

Speaking from the western Indonesian island, she said: "I was deeply shocked by the level of destruction I saw when I arrived in Padang, the capital of west Sumatra yesterday.

"It was like nothing I had ever seen before. A lot of buildings in the capital had collapsed, particularly the high rise buildings that were not built to withstand earthquakes.

"So far there has been 700 confirmed dead, but authorities say they are expecting it to be more in the region of 3,000 people when they take into account the surrounding villages.”

She is among the four-man Shelter Box Response Team (SRT) which has worked tirelessly to provide emergency boxes to those most in need. Each box contains a 10-man tent, basic tools, cooking utensils, blankets and water purification equipment.

The 35-year-old said: "Today (October 6) we ventured out to some of these villages in a mini bus which we were able to hire with a driver to distribute tents, water purification tablets and basic survival equipment.

"Although some of the more remote villages you can only access by foot, so I have spent the best part of the day wading through rivers and paddy fields.

"Whole villages have literally been engulfed by this earthquake and people have lost everything.

"To get it through it you have to separate yourself from your emotions and just get on with the job at hand.

"I think it will hit me when I arrived back to the UK, when I will have a proper cry about the sights I have witnessed.

"But when you visit families who are so happy and grateful when you give them a tent, it makes it all worthwhile."

"We were incredibly fortunate that the air port hadn't been damanged and we were able to fly the boxes in from Jarkata, other wise we would have had to use a boat or a truck which would have taken longer.

"The main thing now is making sure that these boxes get to the people that really need them."

Mrs Maynard joined the charity as head of fundraising last year but volunteered to help out in Sumatra for two weeks with the SRT.

Earlier in the year, she travelled to Italy to provide relief work after a powerful earthquake and she also worked on a project with Aids orphans in Swaziland.

Visit shelterbox.org if you can help.

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