A Chorley firefighter has spoken of his part in the massive rescue effort in the Kashmiri city of Muzaffrabad, which lay at the epicentre of the earthquake in Pakistan 11 days ago.

Stuart Howarth, 44, of Bolton Road, Adlington, arrived home in the early hours of Sunday morning after a week-long search and rescue operation with colleagues from the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service.

The father-of-two, who has been a firefighter for 18 years, helped rescued dozens of people, including schoolchildren, trapped in the rubble in the city which has been completely destroyed.

He said: "You just cannot comprehend the devastation until you see it. It's heartbreaking to see how badly people have been affected."

The rescue team were told of different sites where people might still be alive, and had a race against time to get them out.

"There were collapsed buildings everywhere with people pleading with us to help them," he said.

"But we had to go where we knew there was a definite chance of pulling someone out alive.

"It was even more poignant when we were working at the site where a school had been, being a father myself, but you had to get on with it."

There were also amazing stories of survival, including a 70-year-old man whose home had collapsed around him.

"It was incredible. All he wanted was water," said Mr Howarth, who is based at Chorley fire station. "He had managed to survive in a little pocket of space and there wasn't a scratch on him." Mr Howarth was reunited with sons, Jonathan, 15, and Robert, 17, on Sunday, but said it was a wrench to leave Pakistan.

"There is still so much more that needs to be done particularly with the relief effort, in trying to get people shelter before the winter sets in. It's very important people continue to help because the people of Pakistan needs it," he added.

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