Borders family return from Nepal earthquake

It's a terrifying situation for anyone, being caught up in an earthquake while on holiday, but for a family from Melrose, it was made all the more frightening because their 4-year-old daughter was with them too.

David & Aileen Knox had been enjoying a 2-week holiday in Nepal, a country they say they've fallen in love with, when an earthquake measuring 7.8 magnitude shook the museum they were visiting.

The earthquake hit just moments after they had left the main museum building, which lay in ruins after the minute of destruction. The family were lucky to have escaped.

They were ushered into a garden for safety, but smaller tremors continued. The couple turned it into a game as their daughter hid under a table with Nepali children.

After several hours, they made their way across Kathmandu to gather their bags from the Guest House. The staff helped them walk their luggage across the city to the airport.

The family spent 2 days camped at the airport trying to get home, at first sleeping outside on the ground.

The earthquake hit on Saturday 25th April. They made it back to their rural cottage in Melrose on Friday night (1st May).

Over 6000 people are now thought to have died in Nepal, including 18 climbers on Everest, the worst tragedy the mountain has ever seen.

More than 14,000 have been injured and the United Nations estimates around 8 million people have been affected, with around 1.8 million Nepalise displaced.

The Nepalise government says over 130,000 homes have been destroyed.

The Knox family says they'll now work at raising money for the aid effort and will go back in a few years, to help the tourist industry recover.