Diary records painstaking rescue efforts after air crash

Part 5: Sweating

The temperature rose, and some team members even suffered from heatstroke during excavation. Team leader divided members into groups to work on rotation.

After the one-day search, my goggles were steaming up. My nose seemed to collapse and the ears were strangled by the mask rope.

What was the happiest moment on the scene? A large 2-liter bottle of mineral water. Gulp, gulp, and gulp down.

In order to prevent getting injured, we wore rescue clothes inside and isolation clothes outside.

Teammates said: "It starts to sweat just after putting on the isolation suits, before doing anything. As soon as you raise your hands, water flows down your arm to your body."

Teammates took off the fire rescue boots, and the sweat flowed out like rain. "Wearing boots is like walking in water on a rainy day."

I was almost exhausted every day when returning to the stationing area. I didn't want to eat. But eating was necessary to survive, for further search. It was so hard, but no one gave up.

We all worked hard and wanted to go faster! Faster! Hang on! Hang on! Try to find the black boxes!

There were also psychologists at the site to do psychological assessment for the team members and help solve their psychological problems. After each search and rescue operation, the team would hold a summary meeting immediately. The captain would read an encouraging letter from the fire brigade, which greatly boosted the morale of the team.