Fire-fighters assist in Japan

The team sent to Japan: Andy Horridge, Alex Sugden, Mike Buckley, Dave Swallow, Neal Pickersgill, Clive Geoghegan and Peter Stevenson

Seven fire fighters joining the international search and rescue effort in Japan have arrived safely and set up base in a local gym, ready to begin searching for survivors in the next few hours.

The crew from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service joined a team of 63 people from across the UK who landed in the devastated country over the weekend.

They immediately joined an aid convoy heading North West to Ofunato City which bore the brunt of a 10ft high tsunami, washing more than 300 houses away and wiping out local infrastructure in the wake of the earthquake that hit Japan on Friday.

Peter Stevenson, who is leading the UK team said: "I have no doubt this will be an extremely challenging situation but once again we will be doing our utmost to use our experience, equipment and training to help the people in need.

“A number of the UK team members have recent experience of dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, and previously events in Turkey, Algeria and Pakistan and I am sure will utilise everything they have learned previously."

The team is well-equipped, with specialist tools that can penetrate reinforced concrete and metal to gain access to victims and shoring equipment that allows team members to maintain a safe working position during rescue operations.