A British firefighter helping with the rescue efforts following the earthquake in Turkey has recorded the moment he helped pulled two people from the rubble. Southern Turkey was hit by the devastating earthquake which killed more than 30,000 people five days ago.
Phil Irving, 46, from Haverfordwest, in Pembrokeshire, was part of the UK International Search and Rescue (UK-ISAR) team, which was sent to Turkey to help rescue those trapped. He was among the team who rescued a police officer and a woman from a building in Hatay.
Speaking about the moment, the father of two 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.”
He added: “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.
“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.”
Mr Irving has been a firefighter for almost 24 years and has volunteered with the UK-ISAR for 17 years. He was part of the response team at the 2009 Indonesia and 2010 earthquakes. He described the scene in Turkey as like a "warzone".
He said: “I was walking down the street the other day, there were helicopters above, constant sirens, shouting in the street, brazier fires burning, and it feels and looks like a war zone. 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 explaining 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. I have to say this about the Turkish people, to a degree they have understood. Their compassion for us is remarkable.
“There was a lady sitting round 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.”
