New Brunswick DART members return from Nepal mission

New Brunswick members of Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) have left Nepal after spending a month helping the people of the earthquake-stricken country.

Spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Navy, Lt.-Cmdr. Kelly Williamson, who is married to New Brunswick Southwest MP John Williamson, was among those deployed in the days following the devastating April 25 quake.

"Life has gone on in the capital city, but New Brunswickers should know that things in the outlying communities and the small rural communities really are difficult," said Williamson.

"The team from 4 Engineer Support Unit at CFB Gagetown have just done a tremendous job. They were just so key to helping the little village of Sankhu dig out. They helped with the assistance of the Nepalese army and the local police forces bring down some of the houses that were in need because they'd just been so far damaged they couldn't have been repaired."

Williamson says the New Brunswick soldiers will be making their way back home today.

They stopped at the operational support hub in Cologne, Germany, on Monday to decompress from the mission and to get wellness briefings, she said.

More than 8,200 people are reported to have been killed in the recent earthquakes and more than 19,000 injured.

The April 25 quake measured 7.8 on the Richter scale. A second one on May 12, which temporarily cut one of the DART teams off from its base, measured 7.3.

DART provided field and construction engineers, and medical assistance, such as first aid, laboratory, pharmacy, rehydration, preventive medicine and limited obstetrics services.

DART headquarters also provided command and control, linking with other Canadian government departments, the government of Nepal and international humanitarian groups.