NINE specialist firefighters from Hampshire have been deployed in Turkey to help rescue survivors from the earthquake wreckage.
The men from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service have formed part of a team of 77 UK search and rescue specialists in Gaziantep, equipped with specialist search tools and four search dogs.
The Hampshire team left their base at Eastleigh Fire Station to fly out on Tuesday, February 7 morning, without knowing when they’d return.
UK International Search and Rescue is made up of firefighters and staff from 14 fire and rescue services from across the country.
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The emergency workers are using equipment such as seismic listening devices, concrete cutting and breaking equipment and propping and shoring tools.
The team’s world-class specialist skills and state-of-the-art heavy duty equipment will allow them to cut their way into buildings and locate survivors in the rubble.
The major earthquakes, of magnitudes 7.8 and 7.5, caused even new buildings to crumble. The death toll in Turkey and Syria has surpassed 21,000 but search and rescue teams are continuing to find survivors, days after the earthquake hit.
For more on the Urban Search and Rescue Team go to hantsfire.gov.uk/about/services-and-facilities/specialist-response/usar/.
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