A private country club in Caracas has been converted into an emergency medical facility as British search and rescue teams arrive to support Venezuelan authorities following the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck the country’s central coast on Tuesday.
The facility, formerly the Caracas Country Club, is now operating as a field hospital with capacity for 300 patients. British medical personnel from the UK International Search and Rescue team are working alongside Venezuelan doctors, focusing on triage and surgical care. The Foreign Office confirmed that a team of 47 specialists, including trauma surgeons and structural engineers, has been deployed.
“The scale of the damage is significant,” said Dr. Eleanor Hayes, the British team’s medical lead, speaking from the converted clubhouse. “We are stabilising patients who would otherwise have no access to care.”
Official figures from Venezuela’s National Civil Protection agency report at least 1,200 dead and 4,500 injured, with the city of La Guaira particularly affected. The earthquake struck at 2:47 p.m. local time, triggering landslides that buried several communities. More than 15,000 people are displaced.
The decision to repurpose the country club, a symbol of Venezuela’s pre-crisis wealth, reflects the severity of the situation. The club’s tennis courts have been turned into helicopter landing pads, and its swimming pool is being used to cool medical supplies.
International assistance has been slow to materialise due to Venezuela’s political isolation. The United States and European Union have pledged aid, but logistical hurdles remain. The British team, arriving via a charter flight from London, is among the first foreign responders to gain access.
“The cooperation we have seen from Venezuelan authorities has been professional and efficient,” said a spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office. “Our priority now is to save lives and support the local health system.”
Local volunteer groups have mobilised, providing food and water to survivors. Many are critical of the government’s disaster preparedness; the country’s crumbling infrastructure has hampered rescue efforts. Power outages persist across the affected region.
The British team is expected to remain for at least two weeks. Additional medical supplies are being flown in from a UN stockpile in Panama. The earthquake is the worst to hit Venezuela in decades, exposing the vulnerability of a nation already strained by economic crisis.
