Rescuers and residents rush this Monday, September 11, to find survivors under the rubble, after last Friday’s earthquake, while the number of fatalities approaches 2,700. Emergency teams from countries such as Qatar and Spain have joined the emergency operations. Despite the magnitude of the tragedy, Rabat has not yet accepted the help offered by nations such as France and Turkey, amid political and diplomatic differences.
With shovels and excavators, expert rescuers and survivors join forces to dig through the rubble of remote Moroccan villages, devastated by the 6.8 magnitude earthquake that occurred on September 8.
After 48 hours, the work is extremely urgent to try to find lives under wooden and brick houses that have become ruins, but the challenges are great.
The number of deaths increased at 2,681, The Ministry of the Interior reported this Monday, September 11. Besides, 2,501 people were injured.
Many structures collapsed easily, including traditional houses of adobe brick – a mixture of clay and sand – stone and rough wood, one of the picturesque features that have made the High Atlas a magnet for tourists for generations, now widely destroyed by the telluric movement.
“It is difficult to get people out alive because most of the walls and ceilings turned into rubble of earth when they fell, burying whoever was inside without leaving any air space,” said a military worker, who asked not to be identified because of standards in the Army.
“It’s a catastrophe”
Visitors and residents line up to donate blood. In some villages, people cry, as children and helmeted police carry out the dead. Khadija Fairouje’s face was swollen from crying as she joined relatives and neighbors dragging her belongings through stone-strewn streets.
“It is a catastrophe (…) We do not know what the future is. The aid is still insufficient,” said Moroccan Salah Ancheu.
Those who survived spent the third night outdoors, in the middle of their destroyed homes or in unstable conditions.
In Imgdal, a town about 75 kilometers south of Marrakech, women and children crowded under makeshift tents set up along the road, while some gathered around a campfire.
It is already the deadliest earthquake in the African country in six decades. However, because much of the earthquake zone is located in regions that are difficult to access, the consequences are still completely unknown. Authorities have not released any estimates on the number of people still missing.
VIDEO: 🇲🇦 Aid distributed to village devastated by Morocco earthquake
Volunteers drive supplies to a village hit by the powerful earthquake that killed more than 2,100 people southwest of the tourist city of Marrakesh, distributing basic necessities to the survivors. pic.twitter.com/YgjaNctlhW
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) September 11, 2023
Roads blocked or obstructed by fallen rocks have made access to the most affected sites difficult.
“There are worse roads further up that are still blocked and we are trying to open them as well,” said rescuer Ayman Koait, as vans loaded with aid piled up along a narrow, cleared track.
The United Nations (UN) estimates that 300,000 people were affected by the devastating earthquake after registering a relatively shallow depth.
Most of the destruction and deaths occurred in Al Haouz province in the High Atlas Mountains, where houses folded in on themselves and steep, winding roads were blocked by debris.
Morocco only accepts help from some countries
Select foreign relief and rescue teams have joined desperate efforts to find survivors high in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains.
Local authorities said they had “responded favorably” to offers of help from search and rescue delegations from Spain, Qatar, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates. However, they have not yet accepted offers of assistance from other nations such as France and Turkey, despite the magnitude of the disaster.
The French Foreign Minister announced this Monday that he will allocate five million euros to help humanitarian organizations providing relief to areas devastated by the earthquake in Morocco.
However, the Foreign Affairs portfolio of Emmanuel Macron’s Government indicated that it is up to Morocco to accept aid to face the emergency.
The two governments have experienced strong political and diplomatic tensions in recent years, especially over Western Sahara. Rabat pressures Paris to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over that region of North Africa.
For months there has been no Moroccan ambassador in France. The two countries have also had differences, as Paris has sought to improve relations with Algeria, Morocco’s archrival and another of Paris’s former colonies. Algiers backs the Polisario Front, a group that has fought for decades for the independence of Western Sahara.
Now, despite the tragedy caused by the earthquake, Rabat would not be willing to accept help from the Macron Government.
“This is a misplaced controversy (…) We are willing to help Morocco. It is a sovereign decision of Morocco and it is up to them to decide,” responded the French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna, when asked about this matter.
For his part, President Emmanuel Macron assured that his Administration is willing to provide immediate help, despite the poor diplomatic relations between the two countries.
“The Moroccan authorities know exactly what can be delivered, the nature (of what can be delivered) and the moment (…) We are at your disposal. We did everything we could. The moment they request this help, it will be deployed,” said the French president.
But Morocco’s lack of response is causing the first consequences. In recent hours, Rescues Without Borders, a French aid group that specializes in locating people trapped under rubble, said it will withdraw an offer to send a search and rescue team because it has waited unsuccessfully for Morocco to give it the green light. to deploy there.
“Our function is not to find corpses,” the organization’s founder, Arnaud Fraisse, told AP.
Meanwhile, Turkey, which experienced a deadly earthquake last February, has also offered Rabat aid and emergency response teams. Its president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, assured that he would help “with all means”, but if the Government of the affected nation accepts the assistance.
The Czech Republic said it is awaiting permission to send a team of 70 rescuers. And German authorities returned more than 50 rescuers who were waiting to fly to their country, local news agency DPA reported.
With Reuters and AP
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