A SOUTHEND doctor is heading to Nepal armed with lifesaving medical equipment to help with the rescue mission.

The Nepal earthquake has killed more than 5,000 people after hitting the area of Kathmandu, the capital, with devastating impact on Saturday.

Dr Aashish Shah, 27, a doctor at Spire Wellesley Hospital in Southend, is teaming up with 20 south Essex medics to help with relief efforts.

Dr Shah, from Nepal, is eager to fly to his homeland and hopes he will be able to see his family who live in Kathmandu.

His mother Minu and father Dr Ram Deo Prasad Shah were at home with their daughter Dr Shristi Shah when the quake, measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale, hit.

He said: “I was shocked when I heard about the earthquake. It was very early and I tried to call home, but the phone lines were jammed.

“I eventually got in touch with them and part of the house has been destroyed. They’ve been sleeping outside in tents because the aftershocks were so bad.

“They don’t know I’m going out yet, but I know they will be proud of me when they hear I’m with a team of doctors.”

Spire Wellesley Hospital, Addenbrooke's Hospital, in Cambridge, and the Nepalese DoctorsAssociation are backing the relief mission and have donated thousands of pounds worth of medical supplies.

The group will fly out on Sunday and will set up base in the remote region of Sindhupalchowk, about three and a half hours by road northeast of Kathmandu, where hardly any aid has reached survivors.

Dr Shah said: “We will save lives. We will set up camp and travel out to different areas and join up with other doctors. We have been speaking to hospitals out there to find out what they need.

“Lots of foreign aid agencies have been left stranded. We are going to have Army protection as we reach Nepal, to make sure everything reaches the people who need it directly.”

More than 200 climbers left stranded on Mount Everest have now been rescued, but civilians in Kathmandu face living in vast tent cities as the clear-up begins.

There are already shortages of water, food and electricity, with disease also a growing concern.

The UK has sent a £15million aid package to Nepal.