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Paul McNulty<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nA group of volunteers delivering reconditioned emergency vehicles to The Gambia have had to be rescued after becoming bogged down in muddy roads in Mauritania.<\/p>\n The group, which includes five officers from West Mercia Police, is part of a larger convoy involved in an aid mission organised by the Emergency Services Aid Charity.<\/p>\n \u201cThe pictures look a bit like a Top Gear road trip,\u201d said Nuala Robinson, from Upton upon Severn, whose daughter Ffion Robinson is one of the volunteers.<\/p>\n She said it had been concerning because they were stuck in hot, humid conditions with little water or shelter and surrounded by mosquitos.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Their part of the convoy, made up of seven fire engines and 21 volunteers, along with a number of support vehicles, set off earlier this month, from Defford in Worcestershire.<\/p>\n In total, 25 unwanted emergency vehicles were being taken to The Gambia, with a team of 65 volunteers driving them across Europe and Africa.<\/p>\n The convoy including Ms Robinson’s daughter had got around two-thirds of the way through their journey when they got caught caught in a rain storm in Mauritania on Tuesday, close to the border with Senegal.<\/p>\n Ms Robinson said the team became bogged down in a quagmire when the roads disintegrated and were unable to free themselves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Ms Robinson said the aid volunteers been “surrounded by mosquitos and were being eaten alive” while they waited for help to arrive.<\/p>\n She also said they had been forced to eat their supply of army rations and that drinking water had been running low.<\/p>\n Because it was too humid to sleep in their tents, some had been sheltering in the cabs of their vehicles.<\/p>\n “Some were in a right state with heat exhaustion,” Ms Robinson said.<\/p>\n At that point they called for help. \u201cIt got a bit serious, so we started phoning round to find a way of helping them,” she added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The area they became stuck in is mostly desert and largely unpopulated, but a tractor was found on Thursday to tow them out.<\/p>\n The country\u2019s ambassador was also able to arrange supplies of food and water.<\/p>\n But they had to be moved one at a time for several miles down a muddy road and it took until Friday to get them all on the move again.<\/p>\n The delay, and an earlier one at the Moroccan border, will mean they are likely to reach their destination a few days late but hope to fly home after delivering the vehicles on Sunday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/bbcx\/grey-placeholder.png\")
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Paul McNulty<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Paul](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/4dc6\/live\/3f711110-7d8d-11ef-b8d4-6faae420ccb6.png.webp\")
Paul McNulty<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n