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A daring kayak expedition to Siberia has hit rough water before leaving Barking - because the University of East London canoes are too big for Aeroflot's cargo crates.

Eight explorers, mostly current or recent students from the university, aim to leave next Monday to navigate uncharted white water in the Altai region. They had committed Pounds 11,000 to the trip before learning that their three- metre-long kayaks would not fit in the standard 2.5m containers used on Russian passenger planes. An appeal has been launched to recoup the Pounds 4,000 cost of last-minute arrangements to fly out the ten kayaks as air freight .

Team member Rob McCarthy said: "The only boats they have over there are fibre-glass and not suitable for white water because they just snap and sink."