Two fire engines have set off from Dundee on a 2,500-mile journey for Nablus, where they will be used in the city’s beleaguered Palestinian twin town.
The engines, which have been retired from service, have been bought by the Fire Brigades Union and are being given to the fire department in Nablus.
The five firefighters started their drive in Dundee, which is twinned with the West Bank city. Helmets, boots and breathing apparatus have also been donated.
The Fire Brigades Union Nablus project left Tayside Fire and Rescue HQ in Blackness Road on Monday morning.
The five crew stopped in Edinburgh for a ministerial send-off at the Scottish Parliament, and the journey then took them to the Newcastle ferry terminal to set sail for Holland.
The appliances will then drive through Europe on to Greece by October 10, where they will be ferried to the Israeli port of Haifa.
The FBU will hope that the Israeli authorities will then allow the equipment to be delivered to the Nablus firefighters.
Support for the project has come from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Scottish Government, TUC, STUC and individual MSPs, MPs and Dundee City Council.
