Morocco Earthquake: Death toll rises to over 2,000
Rescuers in Morocco yesterday stepped up efforts to find survivors in flattened villages as the interior ministry said the powerful earthquake that hit the North African country over the weekend has killed at least 2,122 people, with 2,421 injured, many of them in critical condition.
Amid the debris, civilian rescuers and members of Morocco’s armed forces searched for survivors and the bodies of the dead.
In the village of Amizmiz, near Tafeghaghte, a backhoe dragged away the heaviest pieces of rubble before rescuers dug into the dusty debris with their bare hands to remove a body that appeared to be under a quilt.
The two villages lie in Al-Haouz province, site of the quake epicentre, which suffered the most deaths, 1,293, followed by Taroudant province with 452 lives lost, authorities reported.
Citizens yesterday rushed to hospitals in Marrakesh to donate blood to help the injured.
Meanwhile, Spain’s defence ministry said an A400 airlifter took off from Zaragoza with 56 rescuers and four search dogs headed for Marrakesh to “help in the search and rescue of survivors.
Many residents of the usually bustling tourist hotspot of Marrakesh spent a second night sleeping on the streets, huddled together under blankets and among bags filled with their belongings.
One of them, Fatema Satir, said many stayed outside for fear of their houses collapsing.
The kingdom declared three days of national mourning, and a prayer for the quake victims was to be held yesterday in all of the kingdom’s mosques.
Spain, several countries offered aid. French President Emmanuel Macron said his country has mobilised all technical and security teams to be able to intervene, when the Moroccan authorities deem it useful.
