Ash Embi was finishing a night dive on a small Indonesian island when he returned to his building to wash equipment, not knowing the terror he was about to face.

The Mottingham man, 32, who has been on the Gili Islands for four years, said the two-storey building began violently trembling on Sunday (August 5) as a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit the tourist spot Lombok.

“You can’t describe it,” he told News Shopper. “It was f****** terrifying.

“We all ran from the building onto the beach. It was massive pandemonium. There were lots of casualties and blood.

“We were giving oxygen to kids and gathering medical kits to treat people. I tried to give an older guy some oxygen but he died while I was trying.

“Another guy got squashed by a wall and passed away. Seeing dead bodies is not pleasant.”

After the earthquake the electricity was cut leaving the island in darkness, which Ash said added to the terror.

“It just doesn’t make sense,” Ash said. “People are trapped uphill with no access to food or medical supplies. We are trying to reach out and for those back home to help. We have all witnessed people dying."

The death toll from the earthquakes on Lombok, which was rocked by another tremor with a magnitude of 6.2 today (August 9), is already over 300.

Ash, who is a diving instructor for Trawangan Dive Centre, is now raising awareness for those affected.

His team have been forced to evacuate and move to Bali and they are trying to provide aid to people whose lives have been destroyed in nearby Lombok.

They have raised more than £10,000, initially to get their team access to food, water and medical supplies and then remaining funds will go towards rebuilding houses and communities.

You can donate to support the diving team's relief effort here https://www.gofundme.com/earthquake-relief-trawangan-dive

Despite the tragedy, Ash has no plans of returning to Mottingham anytime soon and is determined to do all he can for those nearby.

He said: “My family in Bromley are terrified and my brother lives in New Zealand so it doesn’t get easier.

“I want to avoid this island being damned. It is a very popular tourist destination and we are going to try and rebuild it as quickly as possible.

“We need to try and stay positive.”