A team of firefighters from Scotland has been deployed to Venezuela to help communities impacted by two devastating earthquakes.

Gavin Brown, Ian Hodgson and Brian Richards travelled to South America as part of the UK's search and rescue operation after the twin earthquakes struck on 24 June.

More than 2,000 people have died in the disaster and tens of thousands are still missing.

The UK crew, which consists of 68 firefighters and staff from 14 fire and rescue services, has also been joined by emergency service personnel from other countries in attempt to locate survivors in the rubble.

Brown, Hodgson and Richards left the UK last Friday and have been working in Venezuela for the past week.

They have been providing specialist technical expertise where it is needed most during search and rescue operations.

Andy Buchan, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service group commander, told BBC Radio Scotland that the three firefighters have had advanced training in life location and technical searches.

"We have various types of equipment we can use for sound, vibration and drones," Buchan said.

"They are all trained in breaking and breaching which allows us to tunnel into a building, breaking our way through any barriers or walls."