Turkey-Syria earthquake: Welsh firefighter describes moment two rescued from rubble after five days
The amazing moment the two people were pulled alive from beneath the rubble they had been trapped under for five days. Credit: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
A Welsh firefighter in Turkey helping deal with the aftermath of the deadly earthquake has described the incredible moment a UK rescue team helped pull two people alive from the rubble.
Footage from Saturday (11 February) shows the team saving a man and woman who had both been trapped in a collapsed building for five days.
As time passes since the devastating tremours on Monday, the chance of finding people alive in the rubble begins to fade.
It has now been six days since the initial earthquake and the death toll across Turkey and Syria has surpassed 28,000.
Phil Irving, 46, from Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, said the most difficult part as a rescuer is "explaining the rationale to people frantically searching for their loved ones as to why we are moving on".
He added: "You don’t want to extinguish all hope for people".
Mr Irving is one of 77 search and rescue specialists providing life-saving support as part of the UK International Search and Rescue (UK-ISAR) team deployed to Turkey.
The team, which includes five Welsh experts from Mid & West Wales and South Wales fire services, have been deployed through the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office following a Turkish Government request for help.
The remarkable footage from Saturday shows the British search and rescue specialists in Hatay, southern Turkey, carefully extracting a police officer and a woman who had been trapped in a collapsed multi-storey building for 120 hours.
Dad-of-two Mr Irving said: “These people were entombed in rubble and debris and we had to work around the clock to bring them out alive.
“It was Friday afternoon when we first discovered signs of life. We knew 100% that they were alive.
"We were hearing them tapping and shouting so we knew we were close to them but reaching them was a major challenge.
“It was a catastrophic collapse and access was difficult.
"They were trapped in there for over five days and it will stay with me their incredible capacity to keep going, hope and believe.”
Usually a watch manager at Haverfordwest station, Mr Irving has been a firefighter foralmost 24 years and has volunteered with UK-ISAR for 17 years.
He is working as the UK-ISAR safety and security officer for the Turkey deployment and said: “I’ve got to be honest that I always find that it is a mixed emotion when we get someone out because if you rescue one person and they are reunited with a relative, generally-speaking that person has left a loved one in the building, who has not been so lucky.
“So, it is generally a bitter-sweet moment.
"Of course, when we are successful in getting someone out, it gives the team a boost, but I don’t think you ever have a rescue that is not moderately tarnished with the bigger reality that the survivor will have to deal with grief for the people that didn’t make it.
“In all honesty, the most difficult conversations we have are when the search dog doesn’t get a hit, there’s no audible noise or sign of life and then we have to move on.
“It is very difficult to explain the rationale to people frantically searching for their loved ones as to why we are moving on. You don’t want to extinguish all hope for people."
The 46-year-old described being touched by the kindness of local people who have suffered so much.
He said: “There was a lady sitting around a burning brazier next to a collapsed building.
"Potentially she had lost family, she had the clothes on her back and that was it.
"Yet she walked up to a female medic, touches her on the arm and offers her half of this six-inch cake that was all she had.
“For people that have absolutely nothing, suffering significant grief and trauma, to still have the capacity to show kindness like that makes me believe in humanity.”
Fellow UK-ISAR team member, Steven Davies, from Gower, described the challenging conditions rescuers are facing.
He said aftershocks are something they are having to deal with.
"There’s been a lot of aftershocks keeping us on our toes," the 51-year-old said.
“The aftershocks are not enough to knock you off your feet back you can feel the ground shaking.
"The first ones you think ‘Oh that’s a bit strange’. We’ve had three today.
“If you’re working on a rubble pile you’ve got to have your wits about you because situations can change dramatically.
"Some of the buildings are teetering but we have a structural engineer with us keeping an eye on that.
"We’ve only had a couple of minor injuries you get from walking on uneven ground but nothing serious."
Dad-of-two Mr Davies previously described how the initial scene when he arrived in Turkey on 6 February was "a lot worse than anticipated".
The UK Government is providing life-saving items to Turkey and Syria – including thousands of tents and blankets to help people keep warm and sheltered in the freezing conditions.
An appeal to help the victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria raised more than £30 million in just 24 hours.
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) which brings together 15 leading UK aid charities says its Turkey earthquake appeal has raised £52.8 million in two days - including £5 million in aid match from the UK Government.
International Development Minister Andrew Mitchell said: “It is thanks to the generosity and compassion of the British people that the DEC Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal has reached the extraordinary total of £52.8 million, which includes £5 million of match funding from the British taxpayer.
“This would not have been possible without the kindness and support of the British people. Thank you.”
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