A TEAM of Lancashire firefighters have spoken frankly about their experiences in Turkey as they desperately sought to find survivors of last week's tragic earthquake

The six-strong search and rescue team, including Reg Tassiker from Blackpool, arrived home on Tuesday (August 24) after spending almost a week in Izmet rescuing bodies from collapsed buildings.

Reg, based at Bispham Fire Station, revealed: "On the way into Izmet, we were flagged down at the side of a garage. Two of the lads went to have a look around with some locals and translators.

"We found a collapsed hospital with around five people caught in it and we went up and started working on that.

"We didn't see much when we arrived, except the glow from the burning oil refinery, because it was night. By the time it became dawn, you realised that it was no small thing.

"The five-storey hospital was around 15ft high after the earthquake. You hear stories of people being pulled out alive days after the quake but we were looking for two people on the fourth floor of the building - and there was a 2ft gap between that and the fifth. "As we got deeper in, we could tell that there was no way anyone inside could have been alive."

Team leader Peter Thorne, from Chorley, added: "Unfortunately, we didn't have the fruits of our labours fully realised by pulling out any survivors but I wouldn't say we were unsuccessful.

"We recovered a lot of bodies which helped complete the grieving process for many people, seeing the finality of it all. And we can better prepare existing and future team members for earthquake procedures.

"At one point we pulled out the bodies of a woman and her child, still in her arms. They were in bed. They had no chance.

"It has effected us all dramatically - the dead, the smell and knowing that there was a body in the rubble beneath you just from the smell."

All the team agreed that the rescue operations should be finished so that efforts could be concentrated on preventing the spread of disease.

"You just can't carry on the rescue operation now - you won't find anyone alive under the rubble," said Reg.

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