KUN0031 4 GEN 0321 FRANCE /AFP -JAX6 MIL-UK-DEFENCE-AID-RESCUE UK commando engineers rescue earthquake aid convoy LONDON, Jan 11 (KUNA) -- British commando engineers have rescued an aid convoy which was cut off by a blizzard while delivering supplies to victims of the Pakistan earthquake, the UK Ministry of Defence revealed Monday. Some of the trucks in the 11-vehicle convoy organised by the Irish charity "Goal" were said to be perilously close to slipping off the high mountain road when they were finally dug out, a Ministry of Defence spokesman said. It began on January 4 when a party from the Royal Engineers and Commando Royal Marines was sent to deliver kerosene and generators to two Pakistani military sites in the Kashmiri mountains which had been cut off since New Year's Eve. Travelling in all-terrain vehicles, they were able to cut a path through snow to the remote villages of Mallot and Rangola along a ridge line 7, 000-feet above sea level. But their return journey was blocked by a massive rockfall and they were forced to double back and spend the night at Rangola. The next day, as they were descending by another route, they came across the "Goal" convoy, which had been abandoned in a blizzard on New Year's Eve, and began digging them out. Stewart Mead, Goal's logistics manager, who had returned to the area on foot to try to retrieve some of the vehicles, told the British media "We were carrying 30 tonnes of food to the area on New Year's Eve. After the delivery, the blizzard hit, some of the vehicles jack-knifed and that was the road blocked, so we had to walk 16 kilometres back down." "All the vehicles are being leased for this relief operation so it is expensive for a charity like ours to have them not in use, let alone destroyed. We are very indebted to the British Army. I could not believe my eyes when I saw them pulling out vehicles when I walked round the track," Mead said. (end) he.ajs KUNA 111610 Jan 06NNNN