Moroccan emergency teams, with the support of foreign rescuers, continued their efforts this Monday to find survivors and help people whose homes were destroyed by the earthquake that left nearly 2,500 dead.
The Moroccan government announced on Sunday evening that it had accepted offers to send search and rescue teams from Spain, the United Kingdom, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The teams have contacted Moroccan authorities to coordinate the work, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Spain announced the dispatch of 86 rescue workers, accompanied by sniffer dogs. A humanitarian flight left Qatar on Sunday.
The Moroccan ministry stated that “in case of changing needs” other offers of assistance could be accepted.
Several countries, including France, the United States and Israel, also provided aid to the North African kingdom after the earthquake, which left 2,497 dead and 2,476 injured, according to the latest assessment by Morocco’s interior minister on Monday.
“Morocco is a sovereign country and it is up to the country to organize the rescue,” said French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, who announced 5 million euros in aid to NGOs already active in the country.
Awaiting the arrival of more foreign teams, Moroccan authorities have started setting up tents in the High Atlas region, where entire towns have been destroyed by the earthquake.
Apocalyptic scenario
Rescuers, volunteers and soldiers are trying to find survivors and pull bodies from the rubble, especially in the municipalities of Al Hauz province, the epicenter of the earthquake south of the tourist city of Marrakech.
In Tikht, a small town near Adassil, a minaret and some houses were the only buildings that survived in an apocalyptic scenario.
“Life is over here,” laments Mohssin Aksum, a 33-year-old resident. “The city is dead”.
Nearby, security forces dig graves for victims or set up yellow tents for survivors who have lost their homes.
The earthquake occurred on Friday evening. With a magnitude of 7, according to the Moroccan Center for Scientific and Technical Research, and 6.8 for the United States Geological Center, it was the most powerful quake ever recorded in the country.
Despite the devastation, there is solidarity in Marrakech, where hundreds of people lined up at hospitals to donate blood.
“We are collecting food to help the areas affected by the earthquake,” Ibrahim Nachit, member of the organization Draw Smile, told AFP, which also plans to send a “medical caravan” to the places most in need.
“I believe that the food obtained today should be able to sustain at least a hundred families for a week,” said Abdeltif Razouki, vice-president of the association.
“Major rifts”
The International Red Cross warned of the importance of humanitarian aid, which the organization said could be needed for “months or even years.”
“But the first 24 or 48 hours are critical,” he emphasized.
In addition to human and material losses, the earthquake also affected the country’s architectural heritage. In the medina of Marrakech’s old quarter, the damage is impressive.
The 12th-century walls surrounding the imperial city, founded in 1070 by the Almoravid dynasty, are partially deformed.
“We can already say that (the damage) is much more significant than we expected. We observed significant cracks, the Kutubia Mosque, the most emblematic structure, as well as the almost complete destruction of the minaret of the Kharbouch Mosque in Yamaa el Fna Square,” said Eric Falt, UNESCO Regional Director for the Maghreb Region .
This was the earthquake with the highest number of casualties in Morocco since the Agadir earthquake on February 29, 1960. The tragedy killed almost 15,000 people, a third of the population of this west coast city.
Source: DN
