British rescue team left stranded as race to save Venezuela earthquake survivors hangs in the balance

A team of British disaster response volunteers heading to earthquake-hit Venezuela has been stranded at Madrid Airport for more than 24 hours as they battle to reach the devastated country.

The 11-member team, accompanied by a search dog, has been deployed by UK charity Serve On and is attempting to reach Caracas after two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela on Wednesday.

Equipped with specialist seismic and acoustic equipment capable of detecting movement beneath collapsed buildings, the team says it is ready to begin search and rescue operations as soon as it can enter the country.

The twin earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude, have killed more than 1,430 people, while at least 68,900 others remain missing.

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However, efforts to reach the disaster zone have been severely hampered after Caracas' Simon Bolivar International Airport was badly damaged in the earthquakes, disrupting international flights.

Serve On team leader Vernon Young said every hour counted in the race to find survivors.

"These things are always time critical. We're a light team and can move quickly. The sooner you get there, the more chance you have of saving lives," he said.

Mr Young said previous disaster responses had shown people could still be rescued many days after an earthquake.

"Every situation is different. In Turkey they were pulling live victims out 14 days after the earthquake," he said.

"We hope we can get out there and make a difference."

He added: "We're a technical rescue team and can potentially find deeply entombed victims just by their movement.

"We still believe we will make a decent contribution if we get there in the next day or two."

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Mr Young said the group had been exploring every possible route into Venezuela after connecting flights from Istanbul were cancelled, leaving the volunteers stranded in Madrid since Friday evening.

"We've been reaching out to any other type of flights, military flights and lots of different ways," he said.

"We have 11 out on deployment but twice that number back in the UK working really hard to help us get there. We're not alone – there's a French team and two Spanish teams facing the same problems."

Mr Young said the charity had been in contact with the UK Government and believed officials were doing everything possible to help.

"It's the saving lives aspect that motivates me," he said.

"We're frustrated and we want to be out there now."

Volunteer Matt Hasdell, 24, said the logistical difficulties had intensified as the situation unfolded.

"Our priority is to get into the disaster zone and save as many lives as possible," he said.

"Our team has been working as hard as possible to get us on the ground."

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