British crisis-response team stranded amid attempt to join earthquake rescue effort, as Venezuela's missing soars above 50,000
Team leader Vernon Young said the group are desperate to get out to Venezuela “as soon as possible”, as the UK defence secretary looks to assist their journey
A specialist team of crisis-volunteers from the UK hoping to join the rescue efforts in Venezuela have been stuck in Madrid for over 24 hours.
Listen to this article
The team of 11, accompanied by a dog, were headed to Venezuela to join the rescue efforts after the devastating earthquakes earlier this week.
UK-based charity Serve On, a UK-based charity, were travelling with seismic and acoustic equipment that can sense movement of deeply buried victims, in the hopes of locating some of the 50,000 missing people across the nation.
Team leader Vernon Young, who has previously responded to disasters in the British Virgin Islands, Turkey and Syria, told media that the team are desperate to get out to Venezuela “as soon as possible”.
Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, was devastated by back-to-back high magnitude earthquakes on Wednesday, with the confirmed death toll from the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes surpassing 1,430 on Saturday.
Read more: US launches fresh strikes on Iran 'in direct response to continued aggression'
Figures suggest the number of missing people could be as high as 68,900 - even higher than the initial estimates of around 50,000.
The quakes also severely damaged the facilities at Simon Bolivar International Airport, the only international airport that serves Caracas, meaning travel into the country is “severely affected”.
UK Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis has agreed to explore whether the UK military can assist ServeOn's specialist team to reach Venezuela, telling Sky News he would "look into it right away".
Footage posted on social media shows the team sleeping with their luggage in Madrid airport as they await updates on their travel.
Mr Young, 57, who has volunteered for ServeOn for 14 years, said: “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 stressed that although every situation is unique, the team just wanted to get out there and "make a difference".
“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."