RESCUE worker Ian Ablett has returned home after a six-day search for survivors in earthquake-torn Pakistan.

He today told how he helped pull seven people alive from the rubble of a multi-storey block of flats in Islamabad in the aftermath of the disaster.

Mr Ablett, 53, of Sycamore Road, Weymouth, also spoke of meeting heartbroken families left devastated by the loss of loved ones who were killed when the building collapsed.

The father-of-two was part of a 25-strong team from UK search and rescue charity Rescue and Preparedness in Disasters (RAPID) which arrived in Pakistan's capital shortly after the quake rocked the country.

They worked round-the-clock to find survivors in the debris of Margalla Towers - the worst hit building in the city.

Mr Ablett said: "When the apartment block collapsed the ground beneath it was churned up and all the flats dropped.

"When high-rise buildings tumble there are often small voids in the rubble so we were hopeful of finding people alive. There had been some rain too so survivors may have found water.

"About four days after the earthquake we picked up a voice on our audio equipment, but then it stopped and we assumed the person must have died.

"Then we heard the voice again and got the diggers in and located the void.

"A couple of members went in and found a woman who had survived in a small space. She could speak English and said she knew her baby was under the rubble somewhere too but couldn't get to him.

"We managed to find another void nearby where the two-year-old boy was crawling around.

"At first he scrambled up to the entrance but hid back down again when his mum wasn't there, but eventually we got him out."

Among the seven people rescued by his team were a 75-year-old woman and her daughter who were found underneath rubble five days after the quake struck.

Mr Ablett added: "That is the up side, but there is a down side. There was a couple who lost their eight-year-old invalid son and their whole world had collapsed. His father had been holding him when the building was flattened and he was killed as beams fell down."

Dozens of people died when Margalla Towers was flattened and the death toll across the region is now expected to reach 50,000.

Mr Ablett said he only slept for about eight hours during the mission as the team worked tirelessly to scour the piles of concrete for signs of life.

His team worked with Pakistani soldiers to keep nearby crowds quiet so they could locate survivors using hi-tech audio equipment.

Mr Ablett, who has returned to work at BHC on the Granby Industrial Estate in Weymouth, said he plans to continue as a RAPID rescue worker.

"We saved some people's lives and that makes it worthwhile," he added.