Hampshire Fire Fighters Fly To New Zealand

23 February 2011, 10:29 | Updated: 7 March 2011, 16:22

Nine Hampshire firefighters are heading to New Zealand to help with an international search and rescue operation after the earthquake in Christchurch.

The quake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale struck at around 12:51pm local time (23:51pm GMT) on Monday (21st February).

The Hampshire crew are going because Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service is currently on call as part of the UK's International Search and Rescue (UKISAR) team.

It's among a group of 13 UK Fire Brigades who provide specially trained volunteers to respond to overseas disasters on behalf of the our government. The team includes personnel from West Midlands, Hampshire, Grampian, Leicestershire, Essex, Cheshire and South Wales Fire and Rescue Services.  In total there are 63 personnel going over there.