Spain, the United Kingdom, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are helping Morocco in search and rescue operations after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit the Marrakech region on Friday night.
A Spanish team with 56 rescuers and four dogs is already on the ground and another 30 workers and four dogs will soon arrive in the country. London also sent 60 first responders and four dogs, while France announced five million euros in aid for NGOs present in Morocco.
The most recent death toll points to 2,122 dead and 2,421 injured, but there remains hope of finding survivors in the rubble.
Although the Red Cross warned that the critical period would be 48 hours, teams hope to find so-called “pockets of life,” small air chambers between collapsing houses.
But in isolated villages, survivors say they have been forgotten. “We were forgotten. It’s as if we didn’t exist on the map,” laments Omar Ait Said, cited by the EFE agency as a survivor who had to walk 13 kilometers through the mountains to the main road to ask for help after a woman gave birth in the street, alone, on top of a piece of plastic.
Other injured people, including this man’s father, have not yet received medical assistance and neighbors had to bury four bodies that were found in the town. In addition, there is still a lack of food and shelter for those who lost everything in the earthquake.
“We asked the authorities for tents, but nothing came to us,” lamented El-Machmoum, another village survivor, speaking to AFP. “We are sleeping on the floor, in the cold. Adults can cope with this situation, but children cannot.”
Several countries have already shown themselves available to help, including Portugal, but are still awaiting instructions from the Moroccan authorities.
António Costa stated this Sunday that Portugal has Civil Protection and forensic medicine teams on alert and that the Government continues to monitor the situation of the Portuguese who are in Morocco.
On Saturday, an operation was carried out to transfer national citizens who were in Morocco and who expressed their intention to return, which made it possible to rescue some 140 Portuguese.
The earthquake, whose epicenter was recorded in the town of Ighil, 63 kilometers southwest of the city of Marrakech, reached a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale and was felt in Portugal and Spain.
Source: TSF
