Morocco earthquake: Fundraisers turn lifesavers on trek

The team of 14 included two doctors and two paramedics

A team of fundraisers have described how a charity trek to Morocco ended in a rescue mission after an earthquake.

The group were at base camp on Mount Toubkal in the Atlas Mountains, raising money for a Runcorn hospice, when the earthquake struck on Friday.

As the group of 14 escaped down the mountain range, they came across a ruined village where they helped treat two injured children.

Paramedic Keith Scott said it was "the most emotional challenge" of his life.

Keith Scott said the quake was a near-death experience

Friday's earthquake was the country's deadliest in 60 years and killed thousands of people.

The 6.8-magnitude tremor struck below villages in the High Atlas mountains south of Marrakesh and collapsed homes, blocked roads and swayed buildings as far away as the country's northern coast.

Ellesmere Port-based Mr Scott, a paramedic with North West Ambulance Service for 23 years, said nothing in his experience came close to what he witnessed.

He said: "When you're faced with a near-death experience, which is what I thought was going to happen when I was sat in my tent at the time the earthquake hit. I don't think it's something that will never leave me."

"You could see sparks when we were still inside the tent. You could hear the rocks hitting the ground within metres from where we were.

"It was only probably the next day when the light had broken that we could see the full effect of what had happened, the landslides and the rock falls and the damage that had been caused."

The team were halfway up a mountain when the quake struck

The first priority was to make the sure the team was safe and well.

The emotionally-charged aftermath saw the fundraisers having no communication with the outside world.

They waited until daylight before a four-hour trek down the mountain only to find a village with casualties.

The team helped a 17-year-old girl who had sustained significant injuries to her left leg and her head, and a young boy who had a significant head injury.

The group saw the earthquake aftermath at first hand

They gave instant treatment but realised they would die unless the team could get the youngsters to a road where an ambulance was said to be near.

The medical team, plus some of the villagers and some other British travellers, including three men who were former members of the armed forces, got the girl up the road until they could meet the ambulance.

Caroline Pearce, from Ultimate Challenges which put the trip together in aid of Halton Haven Hospice in Runcorn, said: "It was terrifying.

"The team worked incredibly hard and rallied round each other and I was so, so proud of how they all worked and how we've come out of this safely."

The team have raised more than £40,000 are were due back on Monday.