FIFA Vice President and Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner was left stranded in China yesterday, following the earthquake disaster which claimed the lives of thousands.

Warner was there as a guest of the Asian Football Confederation for its Vision Project tour of China, when tragedy struck.

Last night, he was stationed at a camp with several others, including other football officials awaiting to depart on a private jet, even as national disaster agencies tried to rescue survivors and recover bodies left in the wake of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake (See Page 25).

Speaking about the experience, Warner, in a press release issued yesterday, said, "I saw death."

Warner described the trauma he experienced as he occupied his room on the 31st floor of the Sheraton Hotel in Chengdu.

"I heard screams throughout this which lasted for about five minutes. I was dazed...I was stunned literally. Then it just subsided. I didn't move... I just laid on the bed. Then the phone rang and they told me to just get down. I had to grab my passport and literally run down the staircase down to the lobby. I collapsed outside because my knees were out after coming down those stairs."

He added, "After this experience in a large country like China which is supposedly prepared for calamities like this and to see what they are going through now, I am convinced more than ever that in my country Trinidad... we are not prepared for such a disaster. And it is one of the first things I intend to bring up at my next Parliament meeting."

Once out of Chengdu, Warner is expected to head to New York and return to Trinidad on Friday.