Team of rescue experts on standby in Britain

A team of British rescuers and sniffer dogs were on standby tonight to fly to the United States.

The Rapid UK team which pulled people from the rubble of earthquakes in India and Turkey has a team of 19 rescuers plus sniffer dogs ready to be flown out ‘‘immediately’’.

But the charity’s director Graham Payne warned that the way the towers of the World Trade Centre had ‘‘pancaked’’ meant the victims had less chance of survival than they would in an earthquake.

Mr Payne said: ‘‘We have been talking to the Department of International Development and they have asked us to put a team on standby - we can go immediately.

‘‘In a way it will be easier than in an earthquake because an earthquake affects a large area - but you have to think of the amount of people in that building.

‘‘I wouldn’t fancy their chances at the moment because it went straight down rather than falling sideways - the floors pancaked one on top of the other like a pack of cards coming down.

‘‘If they are trapped in a void they could survive for some time but then it depends on the amount of smoke they have inhaled.’’