Morocco earthquake update; Death toll pass 2, 000 as rescue mission continues
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Morocco mourns eathquake victims as death toll passes 2,000 as government declares three days of national mourning
Morocco mourns eathquake victims as death toll passes 2,000 as government declares three days of national mourning.
Morocco on Sunday mourned the victims of a devastating earthquake that killed more than 2,000 people, as rescue teams raced to find survivors trapped in the rubble of flattened villages.
The strongest-ever quake to hit the country has killed at least 2,012 people and injured over 2,059, many of them critically, according to the latest official figures.
“I’ve lost everything”, said Lahcen, a resident of the mountain village of Moulay Brahim, whose wife and four children were killed.
Rescue workers recovered the bodies of Lahcen’s three daughters from the rubble of what was once their home, but have not yet found the bodies of his wife and son.
“I can’t do anything about it now, I just want to get away from the world and mourn.”
Troops and emergency services have scrambled to reach remote mountain villages where victims are still feared trapped.
Al-Haouz province, where the epicentre of the earthquake was located, suffered the most deaths with 1,293, followed by the province of Taroudant with 452.
Bouchra, another resident of Moulay Brahim, dried her tears with her scarf as she watched men digging graves to bury the victims.
“My cousin’s grandchildren are dead”, she said in a knotted voice.
“I saw the devastation of the earthquake live, and I’m still shaking. It’s like a ball of fire that has swallowed up everything in its path,” she said.
“Everyone here has lost family, whether in our village or elsewhere in the region”, she added.
Meanwhile, Authorities in Morocco have declared three days of national mourning, while several countries, including Israel, France, Spain, Italy and the United States, have offered aid.
“Three days of national mourning have been decided, with flags to fly at half-mast on all public buildings,” said a statement published by the official MAP news agency after King Mohammed VI chaired a meeting to discuss the disaster.
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The meeting was held after Friday night’s earthquake, the deadliest to hit the North African country in decades, hit southwest of tourist hotspot Marrakesh, killing more than 2,000 and injuring thousands, many of them critically.
After being briefed by officials, the king ordered the immediate establishment of a “commission responsible for the deployment of an emergency rehabilitation and aid programme on rebuilding destroyed housing in disaster areas” and “the care of distressed people, particularly orphans and the vulnerable”.
The Red Cross warned that it could take years to repair the damage.
“It won’t be a matter of a week or two… We are counting on a response that will take months, if not years,” Hossam Elsharkawi, the organisation’s Middle East and North Africa director, said in a statement.
The village of Tafeghaghte, 60 kilometres southwest of Marrakesh, was almost entirely destroyed by the earthquake, the epicentre of which was only about 50 kilometres away, an AFP team reported, with very few buildings still standing.
“Three of my grandchildren and their mother are dead,” said 72-year-old Omar Benhanna. “They’re still under the debris. It wasn’t so long ago that we were playing together.”
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