A Lincolnshire firefighter tells us the devastation of the Turkey earthquake once month on
Ashley Hildred was part of a 77 strong UK team that went to help with initial rescue efforts
One month ago a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey, UK teams were sent to help with relief effort and one of those was a Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Group Manager.
The earthquake that caused the deaths of over 50,000 people hit Turkey and Syria, one month ago today, and caused destruction across the two countries.
Amongst those that travelled to help with relief efforts in Hatay, Turkey, were four Lincolnshire firefighters.
Experienced dog handler from Sleaford, Neil Woodmansey is also part of the team with Colin – his search and rescue dog.
Three further team members are Crew Manager Colin Calam, from Sleaford fire station, Crew Manager Mark Dungworth, from Lincoln South fire station, and Group Manager Ashley Hildred who is usually based at Headquarters in Nettleham.
We spoke to Ashley at their training ground in Lincolnshire, where they gained their search and rescue skills. He told us what it was like when they arrived in Hatay:
"Landing on the ground, getting into that first city which was our operational area to go and work, there is no training that can prepare you for that human interaction and those conversations with families that have lost loved ones, that have still got hope and searching and people that have lost everything.
"It was definitely something I wasn't prepared for and takes a little while to adjust. Just the scale of the devastation and destruction within that city was huge. It was multiple buildings of high-rise, blocks of flats that were down to head height, complete collapses and even buildings that were standing weren't stable."
He continued to say some of the things he saw whilst there:
"The amount of people in the streets that were still around, and ambulances were constantly going backwards and forwards, there were families still, that stayed outside of those hotels and houses that were waiting for help, or still clambering over rubble piles trying to help rescues. So, all that chaos that we walked into took a moment of adjustment."
Now, a month on, the devastation continues with thousands now displaced, without a home.
Ashley said it was the local people that he remembers the most:
"Over seven days of tireless effort and search and rescue operations from the UK team, we only ever experienced gratitude from the locals, the population. They were so happy for us to be there, they were really pleased that we were there to help and only showed us love and support."
Now there's calls for people affected by the disaster with relatives in the UK to be granted special temporary visas that would allow them to enter the country after being displaced.
Enfield North MP, Feryal Clark has raised this with other ministers, stating many of her constituents are affected by this disaster.