Morocco Earthquake: Rescuers hunt for survivors as death toll surpasses 2,000
With the toll surpassing 2,000 lives lost, rescue efforts persisted on Sunday following Morocco’s most catastrophic earthquake in over 60 years.
The disaster struck near Marrakech and has left a grim aftermath, devastating villages nestled in the nearby mountains.
Reuters reports that the aftermath of the 6.8 magnitude earthquake, which struck late on Friday, forced many to spend a second night outdoors.
Relief workers are confronted with the daunting task of reaching the most severely affected villages in the High Atlas, a rugged mountain range where remote settlements abound and where countless homes have crumbled.
Meanwhile, the road near Moulay Brahim, a village about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of Marrakech, encountered a disruption as substantial sections of a cliff broke loose and fell onto it.
This incident has created a partial obstacle along the twisting route linking the city to the Atlas Mountains.
The latest Interior Ministry figures put the death toll at 2,012, with 2,059 people injured, including 1,404 in critical condition.
The World Health Organization said more than 300,000 people have been affected by the disaster.
- “The next 24 to 48 hours will be critical in terms of saving lives,” Caroline Holt, global director of operations for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said in a statement.
Lifting Survivors from the Rubbles
There are hopes more survivors could be found as search teams begin to extract survivors from the debris.
Footage captured on Saturday in Moulay Brahim, showed rescuers pulling someone from the rubble. Two rescuers hugged each other as the person was carried away on a stretcher
The quake’s epicentre was some 72 km southwest of Marrakech, a city beloved of Moroccans and foreign tourists for its medieval mosques, palaces, and seminaries richly adorned with vivid mosaic tiling amid a labyrinth of rose-hued alleyways.
What You Should Know
In the late hour of Saturday, Morocco was shaken by an unusual and potent earthquake, forcing people out of their beds and causing the collapse of buildings in mountainous villages and historic cities ill-equipped for such an event.
The death toll stood at over 2,000, and it was expected to climb as rescuers grappled with reaching isolated, heavily impacted areas on Sunday.
At least 2,012 people have been reported dead in the quake, mostly in Marrakech and five provinces near the epicentre, Morocco’s Interior Ministry reported Saturday night.
At least 2,059 more people were injured — 1,404 critically — the ministry said.
