MOULAY BRAHIM, Morocco, Sept 10 (Reuters) – Survivors of Morocco’s deadliest earthquake in more than six decades struggled to find food, water and shelter on Sunday as the search for the missing continued in remote villages and the death toll of over 2,100 seemed likely to rise further.
Many people were preparing to spend a third night outdoors after the 6.8 magnitude earthquake that occurred late Friday. Aid workers face the challenge of reaching the most affected villages in the High Atlas, a rugged mountain range where settlements are often remote and where many houses collapsed.
The death toll rose to 2,122 and 2,421 injured.
The damage caused to Morocco’s cultural heritage became more evident when local media reported the collapse of a historic building number 12. century mosque. The earthquake also damaged parts of the ancient city of Marrakech, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In Moulay Brahim, a village 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Marrakech, residents described pulling the dead from the rubble with their bare hands.
On a hillside overlooking the town, residents buried a 45-year-old woman who had died along with her 18-year-old son, a woman who sobbed loudly as the body was lowered into the grave.
As he retrieved his belongings from his damaged home, Hussein Adnaie said he believed people were still buried in the rubble nearby. “They didn’t get the rescue they needed and they died. I rescued my children and I’m trying to get them blankets and anything to wear around the house,” he said.
Yassin Noumghar, 36, complained of shortages of water, food and energy and said he had received little help from the government so far.
“We lost everything, we lost the whole house,” he said.
“All we want is for our government to help us.”
Later, bags of food were unloaded from a truck that local official Mouhamad al-Hayyan said had been organized by the government and civil society organizations.
According to the staff, twenty-five bodies were taken to the small clinic in the town.
Since many houses were built with mud bricks and wood or cement and breeze blocks, the structures collapsed easily. It was the deadliest earthquake in Morocco since 1960, when it is estimated to have killed at least 12,000 people.
In the severely affected village of Amizmiz, residents watched as rescuers used a mechanical excavator on a collapsed house.
“They are looking for a man and his son. One of them could still be alive,” said Hassan Halouch, a retired builder.
In the end, the team only recovered bodies.
The army, mobilized to assist in rescue efforts, set up a tent camp for the homeless.
With most stores damaged or closed, residents struggled to get food and supplies.
(1/21)A man walks on rubble as people look on, after a deadly earthquake, in Amizmiz, Morocco, on September 10. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Acquire license rights
“We are still waiting for tents. We haven’t had anything yet,” said Mohammed Nejjar, a worker, folding his blanket in a makeshift shelter built from pieces of wood.
“A man offered me some food, but that’s all since the earthquake. Not a single shop is open here and people are afraid to come in in case the roof falls in.”
The government said on Saturday it was taking urgent measures to address the disaster, including reinforcing search and rescue teams, providing clean water and distributing food, tents and blankets.
EXTERNAL HELP
Spain said 56 officers and four sniffer dogs had arrived in Morocco, while a second team of 30 people and four dogs was heading there. Britain said it would deploy 60 search and rescue specialists and four dogs on Sunday, as well as a four-person medical assessment team. Qatar also said its search and rescue team had left for Morocco.
US President Joe Biden expressed his “sadness at the loss of life and devastation” caused by the earthquake. “We are ready to provide any necessary assistance to the Moroccan people,” he said at a news conference in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The United States sent a small team of disaster experts to Morocco to assess the situation. A US official said they arrived there on Sunday.
France He said he was willing to help and was waiting for a formal request from Morocco. “France is ready to offer its help to Morocco if Morocco decides it is useful,” President Emmanuel Macron said at the G20 Summit in New Delhi.
Other countries offering assistance Among them is Turkey, where February earthquakes killed more than 50,000 people. On Sunday, the Turkish team had not yet played.
“The next two or three days will be critical in finding people trapped under the rubble,” Caroline Holt, global director of operations at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), told Reuters.
He said the international aid system has been waiting for an invitation from Morocco to help, adding that this is not necessarily unusual as the government assesses needs.
A Moroccan government spokesman did not immediately respond to telephone calls from Reuters seeking comment.
PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD
The World Health Organization said more than 300,000 people have been affected by the disaster.
Pope Francisco He offered prayers and solidarity for the victims.
Morocco has declared three days of mourning and King Mohammed VI called for prayers for the dead in mosques across the country.
The epicenter of the earthquake was 72 kilometers (45 miles) southwest of Marrakech, a city beloved by Moroccans and foreign tourists for its medieval mosquespalaces and seminaries richly adorned with vivid mosaics amid a maze of pink-hued alleys.
Additional reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi and Abdulhak Balhaki in the Marrakech region, Jose Joseph in Bengaluru, Adam Makary, Moaz Abd-Alaziz and Omar Abdel-Razek in Cairo, Angus McDowall in London, Graham Keeley in Madrid, Dominique Vidalon in Paris, Nandita Bose Written by Tom Perry Edited by Elaine Hardcastle, Frances Kerry and Giles Elgood
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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