Essex firefighters join rescue effort in Venezuela

A team of Essex firefighters have been working night and day to rescue survivors of the Venezuelan earthquakes from the rubble.

Richard Swash, Rob Wingar and Graham Currie voluntarily travelled to South America after the twin earthquakes struck on 24 June.

Scott Meekings, who is co-ordinating the operation from the UK, said they were dealing with "a lot of tragedy" but remained determined.

More than 2,000 people have died in the disaster and tens of thousands are still missing.

The Essex crew flew to Venezuela as part of UK International Search and Rescue (UKISAR), a squad of 68 professionals deployed by the Foreign Office.

They were immediately dispatched to comb through a collapsed building on Saturday, using a specially trained dog, Bailey, to sniff for survivors.

"The local citizens are lovely and make us feel very special hugging us, shaking our hands and praying for us," said Currie, a watch manager at Essex County Fire and Rescue Service.

"It's been several long hard days with very little sleep, but it's rewarding for us being able to assist," he added.

USISAR, which consists of firefighters from 14 English services and other experts, is entirely self-sufficient during its operations.

"They have been working from basically the crack of dawn up to night-time every single day," said Meekings, a manager at the Essex service.

Morale was high despite the "very demanding" work in hot conditions, he told BBC Essex presenter Sonia Watson.

"There's a lot of tragedy out there. There's a lot of lives that have been lost which the team members have to deal with," Meekings added.

The UN has warned tens of thousands of people are urgently in need of food and shelter due to the quakes, which had magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5.

Communicating with crews has been a challenge due to poor mobile signal, but they have been using a satellite link to stay in touch.

Rick Hylton, the chief fire officer of Essex County Fire and Rescue Service, said: "We are so proud of Richard, Rob, Graham and Bailey for their efforts and we look forward to welcoming them home in the coming days."

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