Three Kent Fire and Rescue technical rescue firefighters have shared their experiences as members of the international search and rescue team following the devastating earthquake.
As you can imagine, it’s pretty much a scene of devastation,” said Maidstone firefighter Jim Chaston. It’s a really large city that’s almost completely devastated by the earthquake.
He mentioned a rescue they had assisted with, saying: “We ran a dog through the area, and the dog gave us a live indication that there was a living human scent in there.
We made verbal contact with the casualty after further exploration, and with a bit of hard work and tunnelling in, we managed to make a small enough hole to get our smallest member through into the void and make contact with the casualty, which was obviously the first part of the rescue.
“We then had to figure out how to make that hole big enough to let her out.
“I believe it took about three hours, as you can imagine [there was] a lot of local interest around us and just a great feeling of elation when we finally managed to rescue her.”
Kent Firefighters assisted in the rescue of a 60-year-old woman who was trapped beneath a building following the earthquake in Turkey, according to KFRS firefighter Brad Rebbeck, a crew manager based at Deal fire station “I was fortunate enough to play a significant role in the first rescue we performed with the 60-year-old lady, tunnelling through the building.
“We’ve made such a difference in someone’s life that she wouldn’t be here if we hadn’t done what we did.
“It’s definitely an experience I’ll never forget.”
The earthquakes, the worst of which had a Richter magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale, wreaked havoc across south-eastern Turkey and neighbouring Syria, toppling thousands of buildings.
Aftershocks then shook tangled piles of metal and concrete, making the search even more dangerous, while freezing temperatures made it even more urgent.
The disaster has affected 13 million of the country’s 85 million people, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Martin Stanley, a KFRS technical rescue firefighter who is normally stationed at Canterbury fire station, stated: “I’ve never seen anything like it; it’s total devastation, and people are completely broken.
“I don’t think I can put into words what it’s like; the entire city is completely destroyed; it’s unbelievable.”
The three men were part of the UK International Search and Rescue Team, which also rescued two adults who had been trapped under rubble for 120 hours and a two-year-old girl who had been trapped under rubble for 101 hours.
The men were sent to Turkey on February 7, the day after the devastating earthquake.
The team also rescued two adults who had been trapped beneath rubble for 120 hours and a two-year-old girl who had been trapped beneath rubble for 101 hours.
The men are members of the United Kingdom International Search and Rescue Team.
A UK-wide appeal has been launched to assist the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
The Disasters Emergency Committee has received assistance from organisations such as the British Red Cross and Oxfam.
The owners of a Turkish restaurant in Larkfield have announced that they will donate their entire weekly earnings to help people in Turkey.
Alim-Et plans to use the funds to purchase necessities such as blankets, baby and children’s clothing, socks, baby food, toiletries, and canned food.
