January 14, 2010
Survivors trapped following a massive earthquake in the Caribbean will today receive help from Lincolnshire firefighters.
Officers from the county’s fire service flew out to Haiti yesterday to lead the UK’s rescue efforts, after the state was rocked by an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter Scale.
Thousands of people are feared dead following the disaster which struck the country’s capital Port-au-Prince at 4.53pm on Tuesday.
It has left tens of thousands of people homeless, with buildings and shacks toppled.
Five members of the county’s urban search and rescue team plus five Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue officers have been deployed after the service received an emergency call to help.
The service’s rescue dog Holly has also been called into action.
The Lincolnshire team will be joined by firefighters from Kent, Lancashire, Manchester, the West Midlands, Wales and West Sussex.
Lincolnshire’s chief fire officer Mike Thomas will be responsible for leading the UK’s response.
“Once in Haiti, the team will work alongside aid agencies from around the world, helping with the efforts to find and free survivors trapped under the rubble,” he said.
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The duration of the trip is unknown but it is believed it could be up to 14 days.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was “saddened and worried” by the reported scale of the earthquake.
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