Abergavenny couple among China quake survivors

8:14pm Thursday 15th May 2008

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A COUPLE reported to be originally from Gwent were found safe after the earthquake in China.

Barry and Christine Jackson, who now live in Herefordshire but are understood to be originally from Abergavenny, were visiting a panda colony when the quake struck on Monday.

They were among 19 other Britons who had been out of touch and reported missing after the 7.9 magnitude quake.

But this morning they contacted their son Anthony to say they had survived.

The group was visiting the Wolong panda reserve in Wenchuan county.

The Jacksons and 12 others were airlifted out of the reserve by Chinese military helicopters and are now in the city of Chengdu.

Speaking to BBC News 24 Mr Jackson, a retired bank manager, said: "Suddenly we had this horrendous noise which was just ... you can't describe what it's like, it's just a huge, huge noise and the land shaking underneath you and the first thing that we all thought to do was to run.'' Chinese authorities fear the death toll could rise to more than 50,000.

The quake directly affected 10 million people and caused landslides that blocked roads to the hardest-hit areas.