A VOLUNTEER team from Salisbury is expected to arrive in Nepal tomorrow morning to join the international rescue effort in the wake of the massive earthquake.

The Serve On International Response Team left their base at Salisbury Fire Station on Sunday morning in response to the disaster.

 The team are aboard an Air India flight from Heathrow Airport and are scheduled to arrive in Nepal 07:30hrs (local time) on Monday morning.

The team includes experienced rescuers who have previously deployed to Haiti, Indonesia, Peru and Pakistan alongside some newer team members who are deploying for the first time – having survived an arduous two year training programme.

A spokesman said they were deploying with the equipment needed to locate signs of life underneath collapsed buildings and then safely recover people who have been even deeply entombed.

They are also self sufficient, carrying all of their own food and equipment, and have the capability to provide other rescuers or the affected community with up to 8,000 litres of safe filtered water to drink each day.

The team are due to arrive in Nepal a couple hours of after sunrise and are expected to get to work straight away under the direction of local co-ordination centre. Whilst much of the rescue effort is currently in Kathmandu, they will be well placed to extend the search into the remote rural areas also affected.

Nepal is very close to the hearts of many of the team. Two of the team were in Kathmandu just five months ago supporting a disaster risk reduction consortium, and other members have a long standing link to the country.

Serve On IRT is a registered charity, based at Salisbury Fire Station.

The spokesman said: “We rely on donations from the public to support our life saving work, and disaster response activity both overseas and in our own community. For more information about their work please visit their website at www.serveon.org.uk, see our photos at @serve_on or facebook.com/serveonirt or contact the operations room 24/7 on 01722 439327.”