Kent firefighters rescue dog after Morocco quake

Four firefighters from Kent Fire and Rescue Service provided support after Friday’s earthquake

Firefighters who were part of a search and rescue mission in Morocco have spoken of the “devastation” caused by the earthquake.

Dom Moore, Brad Rebbeck, Jim Chaston and Jamie Muddle from Kent Fire and Rescue Service provided support after Friday’s 6.8 magnitude earthquake.

At least 2,900 people are known to have died.

Video footage shows the crew moving rubble and rescuing a dog in a rural area near the High Atlas Mountains.

Mr Muddle, who provided water and care to the dog, said: “The scenes we’ve come across so far have been really devastating.

“Most of the villages that we’ve been to have been built into the sides of the mountain, so as the quake hit, a lot of the rocks and the earth and the rubble from the mountain has slid down on to the villages.

“A lot of destruction causing, obviously, a lot of distress and loss of life.”

Dom Moore, Brad Rebbeck, Jim Chaston and Jamie Muddle helped rescue a dog from the rubble

Watch manager Mr Moore added: “We’ve seen villages that are completely destroyed, total collapse of buildings, devastation across the areas we’ve been searching so far.”

The four technical firefighters provided support on the ground with the UK International Search and Rescue Team (UKISAR).

Crew manager Mr Rebbeck said their deployment had been “completely different” to their work in Turkey, which was hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in February.

“Turkey was city centre, lots of high-rise buildings. But the majority of the devastation out here has happened in more rural areas up in the mountains, which is proving quite difficult to get to,” he said.

“They’re all very thin mountain roads, a lot of the roads have been closed through landslides.”