AOL

Foreign tourists stranded in Wolong are escorted by Chinese rescuers

All 19 British holidaymakers who were on a panda-watching trip when the China earthquake struck have now been airlifted to safety, the Foreign Office said.

The remaining five tourists were flown out of the Wolong nature reserve in Wenchuan county by the Chinese authorities.

They have now arrived in Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, where the 14 other members of the group arrived on Thursday and are awaiting their return to the UK.

A spokesman for the British embassy in China said: "The group of 19 British tourists who were missing in the Wolong area have all been evacuated to Chengdu, where they are safe and well.

"The British ambassador has visited members of the group and they are being looked after by consulate officials. The UK is grateful for the help and assistance of the Chinese authorities in this matter."

The group, who were travelling with the Kuoni tour company, were on a panda-watching trip when the 7.9-magnitude quake struck on Monday. The British survivors spoke of how the pandas became agitated moments before the tremors began.

Maureen Baker, from Romford Essex, told Sky News she was washing her hands when the disaster struck and thought she heard a train coming.

She said: "Then I thought it can't be a train here, this is more, and I opened the door and all the floor was moving up and my husband was running towards me panic-stricken. Then we looked around and everybody was running and rocks were falling and then we looked up and the mountain just seemed to explode."

She said boulders were falling down the mountain and the couple ran into the doorway of the panda enclosure, where her husband shielded her from danger. "We thought we were going to be buried alive. I really thought we were going to die."

The group tried to return to their hotel but it had been badly damaged and they were forced to make the coach their home for three nights.