UK rescue team join desperate race to find Turkey earthquake survivors

Earthquake death toll in Turkey and Syria rises to over 4000

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Search and rescue specialists from the UK have arrived to help Turkish authorities comb through rubble for survivors following Monday and Tuesday’s earthquakes. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) announced yesterday that a plane carrying 77 rescue experts, including an emergency team, four search dogs and their equipment from the UK International Search and Rescue arrived on Tuesday evening, and their first full day of work commences today. The Government-backed team is comprised of firefighters and staff from 14 of the country’s fire and rescue services, with experts in their ranks hailing from England, Scotland and Wales.

They come equipped with highly specialised tools, including seismic listening devices, concrete cutting and breaking equipment and propping and shoring tools used to support fragile structures. Team leader David O’Neill said: “We train for exactly this kind of event, and the team are very experienced at acting quickly to earthquakes of this magnitude and other disasters, to get on the ground and effect lifesaving operations as quickly as possible.” Mr O’Neill said the team would stay for up to two weeks and that their self-sufficiency would ensure they don’t burden Turkish authorities.

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UK search and rescue teams prepare for first full day of aid

A specialist search and rescue team from the UK will provide their first full day of aid to Turkish authorities today. 

UK International Search and Rescue arrived in Gaziantep on Tuesday evening, with 77 specialists from 14 British fire and rescue teams, four dogs and emergency personnel on hand to help local workers. 

Team leader David O’Neill said: “The team is made up of 14 different fire services from around the UK, and we train for exactly this kind of event.

“The team are very experienced at acting quickly to earthquakes of this magnitude and other disasters, to get on the ground and effect lifesaving operations as quickly as possible.

“It’s a completely self-sufficient team, so we’re going out to deploy for up to two weeks without putting a burden on the effected country.”

He added that the team is “going out with command and control elements, and obviously the rescue element”.

He continued: “We’ve also got a full base of operations with us, a full medical team, search dogs and handlers that have a vet with them and a range of search tools at our disposal to back up operations.

“This is one of the kind of lesser-known things that the UK Fire Service does.

“Arrangements are already in place with home life, with work life, so that we can release people immediately when we get the call to go out there and be most effective.

“We’ve got a very limited time window for lifesaving operations.”

He said they would need to make progress within the first “four to six days”.

He added: “It is imperative that we get on the ground quickly to have the best effect.”

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