Leicestershire firefighters say earthquake operation in Turkey will stay with them forever
It's been described as the most successful rescue deployment the UK has ever fielded
4 Leicestershire firefighters who flew out to Turkey to support the earthquake rescue operation are telling us the experience will stay with them forever.
The team went over there with crews from across the country - for what's been described as the most successful rescue deployment the UK has ever fielded.
The pulled 8 people from the rubble and their search dogs found another 3.
Kris Platts was one of the 4 that flew over from the service and said it was a harrowing experience: "Every single building was affected, most of the buildings had come down completely."
"The buildings that were still standing were very unstable, with very dangerous conditions."
"Lots of distressed people as you can imagine, searching for loved ones with rescue teams from around the world - all trying to save as many lives as possible."
Around 45,000 people are now known to have died following the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
Ken Hughes from Leicestershire's international search and rescue team says images on TV don't show the true scale of the disaster: "There was destruction everywhere."
"Both sides of the street were just flattened. It was harrowing to see."
"It's going to be a huge rebuilding plan."