Rescuers continue to dig through the rubble of collapsed houses in Morocco’s remote mountain villages after the country’s deadliest earthquake in more than six decades, which killed more than 1,300 people and injured hundreds, reports RTE.
The earthquake that hit Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains on Friday evening damaged historic buildings in Marrakech – the city closest to the epicentre – while most of the deaths were reported in mountainous areas in the south.
The Interior Ministry said 1,305 people were killed and 1,832 injured in the earthquake, which the U.S. Geological Survey said had a magnitude of 6.8 and occurred about 72 kilometres southwest of Marrakech.
In the village of Amizmiz, near the epicentre, rescuers dug through debris with their bare hands. The fallen wall blocked the narrow streets. About 10 bodies covered with blankets lie outside the hospital, with mourning relatives standing nearby.
“When I felt the earth shaking beneath my feet and the house leaning, I rushed to get my kids out. But my neighbours couldn’t,” said Mohamed Azaw. “Unfortunately no one was found alive in that family. The father and son were found dead and they are still looking for the mother and the daughter,” reports RTE.
Montasir Itri, a resident of Asni, said the search for survivors was ongoing.
“Our neighbours are under the rubble and people are working hard to rescue them using available means in the village,” he said, reports RTE.
The earthquake hit the entire High Atlas mountain range around 11 pm. The tremors were felt as far away as Huelva and Zen in Andalusia in southern Spain.
The World Health Organization says more than 300,000 people have been infected in Marrakesh and the surrounding area.
“I still can’t sleep in the house because of the shock and also because the old town is made up of old houses,” said Jaouhari Mohamed, a resident of the old city, reports RTE.
Moroccan state television broadcast images of soldiers being deployed.
From October 9, Marrakesh will host the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Asked about the planned meeting, an IMF spokesman said: “Our sole focus at this time is on the people of Morocco and the authorities who are dealing with this tragedy,” reports RTE.
In Casablanca, about 250 kilometres north of Ighile, those who spent the night on the streets were too frightened to return to their homes.
“The house rocked aggressively, everyone was scared,” said resident Mohamed Taqafi, reports RTE.
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