A COUPLE have told how they feared their teenage daughter was dead when a devastating earthquake struck while they were on holiday in Peru.

Christopher and Lily Turner-Saona said they were scared their daughter Marisol had perished when they lost contact with her during the recent disaster in the South American country, which has claimed 580 lives.

The family, from Rangeworthy, were visiting relatives in the oasis city of Ica, 125 miles south east of the capital Lima, when the earthquake happened on the evening of August 15.

Mr Turner-Saona told the Gazette: "While me and my wife were looking for hotels, our daughter was a mile away with her aunt in a university.

"I was just walking back across the road from a hotel we were looking at when the ground started vibrating.

"Seconds later the ground shook violently and the street power supply went dead. It was then I knew we were in an earthquake.

"We huddled together on the floor between the roads just waiting for the vibrations to go away.

"It was then we thought of our daughter. We were frightened for her."

Marisol described the moment the 8.0-magnitude earthquake struck while she was in a lecture in the first floor of the university with her aunt.

She said: "The room started shaking, then the lights went out and girls started screaming and crying.

"The windows smashed and then I realised the ceiling could come in. I thought I might die.

"There were sliding desks around me and a stampede of students ran as fast as they could for the door.

"When we finally got out of the building I clicked about my parents. I was scared they may not have got so lucky and had been crushed in the earthquake."

Marisol queued for the telephone box to tell her parents she was alive and was able to get to her relatives' home, which they had also managed to reach.

Mrs Turner-Saona, who was born in Peru, said: "It was a huge relief to hear Marisol was ok. But we then had the nervous wait for a couple of hours while she walked back through streets where we could hear looting and gun shots. I was so happy to see her again."

The earthquake devastated many of the country's older buildings, leaving thousands of people homeless or trapped inside.

The family now want to raise awareness of the earthquake's impact on Peru's people and are looking into ways to raise money to help charities rebuild village communities.

Mrs Turner-Saona added: "Since coming back I was disappointed not to see much coverage of the ruin we saw a lot of the country in after the earthquake.

"I hope to help those out there by raising awareness to people here."

Save the Children is running an aid campaign. For details log on at www.savethechildren.org.uk.