Moroccan authorities declared three days of official mourning Saturday after a rare, powerful earthquake struck the Atlas Mountains and the historic city of Marrakech, leaving more than 2,000 people dead and first responders struggling to reach survivors.
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI also ordered the country’s armed forces to mobilize air and ground rescue teams and build field hospitals after the 6.8-magnitude earthquake, according to a military statement.
So far, 2,012 people have died, mostly in Marrakech and five provinces near the epicenter, with 2,059 injured, according to reports.
In cities across the country, hundreds of residents responded to the government’s call to donate blood, including members of the country’s national soccer team whose match against Liberia in Saturday’s African Cup of Nations qualifiers in Agadir was postponed, as rescue teams dug through the rubble to reach victims. who survived.
The Congo and Gambia match is scheduled to go ahead on Sunday in Marrakech despite the earthquake.
Players from both teams spent the night sleeping next to their hotel pool after the earthquake hit the city late Friday, according to reports
Men line up the bodies of victims in Moulay Brahim in Al Haouz province after a powerful earthquake killed more than 1,000 people in Marrakech and surrounding areas.AFP via Getty Images
Rescuers work to rescue a man trapped under the rubble in the village of Moulay Brahim, outside Marrakech.AP
Tremors from the quake were felt as far away as Algeria and Spain’s Andalusia region, across the Strait of Gibraltar that separates the country from Morocco.
Speaking at the G20 summit in New Delhi, leaders from around the world pledged their support to the north African nation.
President Biden said he was “deeply saddened” by the earthquake and that the administration was in contact with officials in Morocco. “We are working quickly to ensure the safety of Americans in Morocco, and are ready to provide any assistance needed to the Moroccan people,” he said.
Algeria, which severed diplomatic ties with Morocco in 2021, announced Saturday it was ready to provide humanitarian aid and open its airspace for aid flights.
A building collapses near the cities of Amizmiz and Ouirgane, Morocco after the earthquake.REUTERS/Ahmed El Jechtimi
A woman told Moroccan state TV that she had lost her four children and her husband.
The village of Adassil in the Atlas Mountains was almost reduced to rubble, a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, shows.
On Saturday, state television showed dozens of Moroccans lining up at blood transfusion centers in Marrakech and Rabat to donate blood.
Abderrahim Ait Daoud, leader of the town of Talat N’Yaaqoub, told the Moroccan news site 2M that several houses had collapsed in his area, but the extent of the damage in remote areas was unknown because extensive damage had blocked the area. roads, making it difficult for first responders to gain access, he said.
Moroccan authorities are working to clear roads in Al Haouz Province to allow passage for ambulances, according to reports.
Paramedics take injured people to hospital in Chichaoua, Morocco. AL-OULA TV via REUTERS
A woman cries standing in front of her house in Marrakesh that was destroyed in the earthquake. Photo by FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images
A resident navigates through the rubble after a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck the ancient city of Marrakech late Friday. AFP via Getty Images
State television also showed hundreds of people camped out in the streets of Marrakech on Friday night, too afraid to return to homes they feared would collapse after the quake.
In Marrakech, the 12th-century Koutoubia Mosque shows signs of decay.
Moroccans posted a video showing damage to a section of the famous red wall that surrounds the old city, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
