The Prime Minister emphasized this Sunday that Portugal has civil protection and forensic medicine teams ready to support Morocco and that the government continues to monitor the situation of Portuguese people in that country.
António Costa spoke to journalists after a lunch with Portuguese businessmen and investors in Chile and a meeting with Mexico’s President Lopez Obrador this morning.
The preliminary balance of the earthquake that struck Morocco on Friday evening increased the number of deaths today to 2,122 and the number of injured to 2,421.
“We have already made available to the Kingdom of Morocco Portugal’s full availability to participate in whatever support it deems necessary. So far we have not been asked for any support, but we do have it available, both in the field of civil protection and in the field of forensic medicine. We have teams ready to support the Kingdom of Morocco if there is a request in this regard,” the Prime Minister said.
In front of journalists, António Costa stated that “from the first hour the government expressed its regret to the King of Morocco, the Moroccan people and all those who have lost relatives”.
He then noted that Portugal carried out an operation on Saturday to transfer nationals who were in Morocco and had expressed their intention to return.
“An air force plane removed during the night about 140 Portuguese who were in Morocco and wanted to return to Portugal. We continue to monitor the situation of the Portuguese in Morocco. We will support those who want to return, but those who want to stay are of course free to stay,” he added.
The earthquake, whose epicenter was recorded in the town of Ighil, 63 kilometers southwest of the city of Marrakech, was felt in Portugal and Spain and reached a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale, according to the National Institute of Geophysics of Marrakech. .
Source: DN
