A LOCAL couple who flew out to Nepal to help with the rescue efforts have been caught up in the latest devastating earthquake.

A major earthquake struck eastern Nepal earlier today (Tuesday), two weeks after more than 8,000 people died in another huge 'quake.

At least 37 people have been killed and more than 1,000 injured, officials say. At least 17 have also died in India.

Paul Metcalfe from Houghton and his partner Leila Mohseni from Vancouver flew out to Nepal last week, having spent most of 2015 in Nepal doing voluntary work.

“We really wanted to go back,” said Paul.

“We know it’s not going to be easy, but we really believe we can make a difference.

The couple raised around £3,000 and took tents, medical supplies and food out to a village where they have a lot of close friends, and where 90% of the houses have been destroyed.

Speaking from Nepal after the latest earthquake, Paul said: “It was very frightening. Leila and I had just come out of a meeting with a local contact in which we discussed how we would distribute emergency building materials to local villages when the tremors hit.

“We were walking in a narrow alleyway in Thamel, the busy tourist hub of Kathmandu, when suddenly the sky filled with birds and then the ground shook violently and debris started tumbling from the five and six storey buildings that were around us.

“Just an hour earlier we had been saying that this is not an area of the city to be in if there was another earthquake as the buildings are very tall and the streets are incredibly narrow, and already many of the buildings had been damaged in the last earthquake, and then we found ourselves in the very same situation.”

“We took shelter briefly in a doorway but then decided to make a run to a slightly open area about 200 metres from where we were as we were scared the building was going to collapse. Lots of people were screaming and also running in the same direction.”

Paul added: “In such moments your gut instinct kicks in as to what to do. It’s hard to describe the experience of the ground and walls shaking so violently. It’s not an event I shall easily forget.

“People here in Nepal are scared and saddened. They don’t know when it will all end.”

Before the second earthquake struck, Paul and Leila’s rescue efforts were going well. They had already donated shelters to a village and are making plans to provide roofing materials to around 100 or more families that are homeless.

If you would like to make a contribution to Paul and Leila’s aid mission, please visit www.youcaring.com/emergency-fundraiser/help-nepal-stand-tall/346648.