British rescue teams and medics head for stricken island

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, which hosts the Fire and Rescue Service's National Co-ordination Centre, dispatched eight teams from around the UK to the stricken country. They come from Sussex, Kent, West Midlands, Manchester, Lincolnshire and Lancashire.

They were joined by doctors and medical staff as part of the UK International Search and Rescue response, and left Gatwick last night on a flight organised by the Department for International Development.

The British effort is part of a massive international aid operation. In the immediate aftermath of the quake, the United States, EU, Canada China, Mexico and Venezuela pledged help.

One of the first teams expected to arrive comprised 37 search and rescue specialists from Iceland, along with 10 tons of rescue equipment.

French rescue authorities said 65 rubble-clearing specialists and six sniffer dogs were on the way, while Spain was rushing three planes with at least 100 tonnes of tents, blankets and cooking kits.

The European Union is sending an initial emergency aid package to Haiti worth 2.7m.

UN agencies and Red Cross societies were trying to send in teams and aid from their regional hub in Panama, while USAID was mobilising experts and two urban rescue units. If aid cannot travel over the airport road to the Haitian capital it may be rerouted through the Dominican Republic, said the World Food Programme. It planned to airlift 86 tons of high-energy biscuits from El Salvador, enough to feed 30,000 people for a week.