More than 48 hours after the devastating Moroccan earthquake that left at least 2,122 people dead, Moroccan rescuers have entered a race against time, supported by foreign rescue teams, to find survivors and provide assistance to hundreds of displaced people whose homes were destroyed.

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Edited by| Hugh Gey

 

Middle East section -  CJ journalist

 

Marrakech - September,11,2023

 

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Medics, volunteers and members of the armed forces are working to find survivors and recover bodies from the rubble, especially in the villages of the Haouz province, the epicenter of the earthquake, south of the tourist city of Marrakech in the center of the country.

Morocco announced yesterday evening that it had responded to four offers of assistance from Britain, Spain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to cope with the consequences of the earthquake.

The statement of the Moroccan Ministry of Interior referred to the possibility of "resorting to offers of support from other friendly countries" if necessary, stressing Morocco welcomes "all solidarity initiatives from different regions of the world".

In anticipation of the deployment of foreign rescue teams on the ground, the Moroccan authorities began to erect tents in the High Atlas, where entire villages were destroyed by the earthquake.

The interior ministry said in a statement that "these teams entered into field Contacts on Sunday with their Moroccan counterparts" in order to coordinate their efforts.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna announced the provision of assistance worth five million euros to NGOs currently participating in relief operations in Morocco after the earthquake.

Colonna told the BFMTV television network on Monday that" Morocco is a sovereign country and it is up to it to organize relief operations, "noting that Rabat has not" refused any help", especially from Paris.

Chinese official media reported on Monday that the Chinese Red Cross Society will give the Moroccan Red Crescent 200 thousand dollars in emergency humanitarian assistance after the earthquake.

The "China Daily" reported that the Chinese Red Cross said that the donations will be used to help Morocco carry out rescue and disaster relief work.

According to official media, Chinese President Xi Jinping extended his condolences to Moroccan King Mohammed VI, saying in his letter that he was shocked when he learned of the violent earthquake that caused heavy loss of life and property.

The station noted " C.Gee.T. s."China's state-run television pointed out that Chinese medical workers in Morocco are actively providing assistance to victims, including during the aftershocks that followed the earthquake.

The report of the television station said that the city of Ben Jarir in central Morocco is the closest to the epicenter that a medical team from China can reach.

A video published by Chinese state media showed a Chinese doctor holding a baby born immediately after the 6.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the region.

Spain said it had sent 86 rescue workers to Morocco with specialized dogs to search for victims, while a Qatari humanitarian flight took off on Sunday evening from Al Udeid Air Base on the outskirts of Doha, AFP reported.

Britain said it would send 60 search and rescue specialists and four dogs on Sunday, as well as four personnel for medical evaluation.

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday directed the King Salman Center for relief and humanitarian works to operate an air bridge to Morocco to provide relief assistance in the wake of the devastating earthquake.

The Saudi search and rescue team from the General Directorate of Civil Defense and teams from the Saudi Red Crescent Authority, led by the King Salman Relief Center, will be sent to participate in relief and humanitarian work, rescue detainees and those affected by the earthquake, according to the Saudi Press Agency "was".

Survivors of Morocco's worst earthquake in more than six decades are struggling to get food, water and shelter, while the search for missing people continues in hard-to-reach villages.

Many are preparing to spend their third night outdoors after the 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck late on Friday. Aid workers are facing a challenge to reach the hardest-hit villages in the High Atlas region, a rugged mountain range where residential areas are often remote and many houses have collapsed.

According to Moroccan television, the death toll from the earthquake rose to 2,122 and the injured to 2,421.

Moroccan media reported that a historical mosque dating back to the 12th century collapsed, highlighting the damage that the country's cultural heritage may suffer due to the earthquake, and the earthquake also damaged parts of the Old City of Marrakech, which is among the World Heritage Sites of the Educational, Scientific and cultural organization (UNESCO).

In Moulay Ibrahim, a village close to the epicenter about 40 kilometers south of Marrakech, residents described how they pulled the deceased out of the debris with only their hands.

On a hill overlooking the village, residents buried a 45-year-old woman who died along with her 18-year-old son in the disaster, while a woman sobbed as the body was lowered into the grave.

Later, a truckload of food was unloaded, which a local official named Mohammed Al-Hayyan said was arranged by the government and civil society organizations for its arrival.

The small health unit of Moulay Ibrahim has received 25 bodies, according to officials there.

With many of the houses in the area being built of Adobe and timber, the buildings in the area collapsed easily. This earthquake is the largest in terms of the number of victims in Morocco since 1960, when estimates indicated that at least 12 thousand people were killed as a result of an earthquake.

The army mobilized its efforts to help with relief and set up a camp for those displaced by the disaster. With the majority of shops damaged or closed, residents face great difficulties in obtaining food and other necessary supplies.

The epicenter of the earthquake was about 72 kilometers southwest of Marrakech, which is adored by Moroccans and foreign tourists for its mosques, palaces and medieval religious buildings decorated with bright mosaic tiles amid overlapping pink alleys.

On the other hand, the government adopted at Sunday's meeting a project to create a "fund for managing the consequences of the earthquake", which will be opened to receive donations. It aims to cover expenses that are particularly important for "rebuilding destroyed houses","taking care of people in a difficult situation, especially orphans and people in a fragile situation", as well as "immediately taking care of all people homeless as a result of the earthquake, especially in terms of shelter, nutrition and all basic needs".

The government added that it had strengthened search and rescue teams and increased the provision of drinking water, food distribution, tents and blankets. The World Health Organization said that more than 300 thousand were affected by the disaster.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Education, Primary Education and sports suspended classes in the areas most affected by the earthquake.

"In coordination with the local authorities, it was decided to suspend the study in the village groups and the most affected areas within the provinces of Al-Hawz, shishawa and tarodant (the 42 groups distributed among these three regions, according to the latest inventory conducted so far) starting from Monday,"she said in a statement.

US President Joe Biden expressed his "sadness at the loss of lives and destruction" caused by the earthquake. "We are ready to provide any necessary assistance to the Moroccan people,"he said at a press conference in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The United States has sent a small team of disaster management experts to Morocco to assess the situation. A U.S. official said they had already arrived on Sunday.

France said on Sunday it was ready to help Morocco and was waiting for an official request to do so. French President Emmanuel Macron said at a press conference on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi, "France is ready to provide assistance to Morocco if Morocco decides that it is useful". "The Moroccan authorities know exactly what can be provided, the nature (of what can be provided) and its timing . We are at her service. We have prepared everything we can. The moment they ask for this aid,we will send it".

Turkey is one of the other countries that offered assistance after it was hit by a devastating earthquake in February that killed more than 50 thousand, but the Turkish team had not yet left for Morocco by Sunday.

"The next two or three days will be very important in terms of saving lives by finding those trapped under the rubble," Caroline Holt, director of global operations for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told Reuters. She added that the international relief system is waiting for an initiative from Morocco to provide assistance, noting that this is not surprising at a time when the government is still assessing its needs.

Pope Francis said he prayed for the victims, offered condolences to their families and expressed solidarity with them.

Morocco declared three days of mourning, and King Mohammed VI called for absentee prayers for the deceased to be held in the country's mosques.

 

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