Moroccan quake death toll surpasses 2,600

Moroccan soldiers and international aid teams are racing against time to reach remote mountain towns after the North African country’s deadliest earthquake in over 60 years claimed over 2,600 lives and injured thousands more, with the death toll still rising.

Search teams from Britain, Spain, Qatar and the UEA have joined the rescue efforts, equipped with concrete cutters and search dogs, to hunt for survivors beneath the rubble. 

The 6.8 magnitude quake struck late Friday night 45 miles southwest of Marrakech in the Al Haouz province, driven by a collision between the teutonic plates that carry the European and African continents.

While the earthquake has caused injury and death in other provinces including Marrakech, Taroudant and Chichaoua, the devastation has largely hit rural communities living at the foot of the High Atlas mountains.

The region’s traditional brick, stone and rough wood houses are a picturesque feature helping to make the Atlas a popular tourist spot but they don’t fare well in an earthquake. Some towns and villages located here are feared to be completely wiped out.

In the village of Tafeghaghte, close to half of its 200 inhabitants have been killed, with many more still missing. One survivor described to reporters how his eight-year-old died under the the wreckage after he left the table to go fetch a knife from the kitchen to cut a melon during their family dinner.

These remote Moroccan villages can be tricky to reach at the best of times, yet alone now that fallen boulders are blocking the roads. This means rescue teams are struggling to bring in heavy lifting equipment. Aid teams are using helicopters to reach communities and, in the meantime, some villagers are using their bare hands to dig for survivors. 

While Moroccan officials have so far only accepted government aid from the four aforementioned countries, a host of other foreign aid teams are awaiting permission to deploy. And even those who enjoy less-than-cordial relations with Rabat are offering a helping hand. 

An aid offer of €5m from France, its former colonial power, is yet to be accepted. Tensions have been running high between the two nations in recent years, amid an unresolved dispute over the Western Sahara territory that Morocco wants France to recognise as Moroccan. Yet despite Morocco even removing its ambassador from Paris in January, French officials have repeatedly denied there is any rift. French ministers have also insisted there is no controversy around the fact that its aid offer is still pending. 

Even Morocco’s arch rival has shown a willingness to help. Algeria became the latest country this afternoon to offer aid to Rabat in the form of 80 specialised rescue workers, despite severing diplomatic ties with its estranged neighbour two years ago, also over the ongoing tensions of the Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony. 

The Algerian government has also said it will open air space to flights carrying humanitarian aid to Morocco and there are many who hope that the disaster might even help to end the hostilities between the two countries.

Morocco will need all the support it can get, with the full impact of Friday’s natural disaster yet to emerge. The damage from the quake could take several years to repair, according to the Red Cross and the authorities have still not issued any estimates for the number of people still missing.

Write to us with your comments to be considered for publication at letters@reaction.life