Rescuers in Morocco searched for survivors yesterday in villages leveled to the ground in the deadliest earthquake to hit the country in more than six decades, while the death toll is nearly 2700 and the extent of the destruction is only becoming apparent.
Rescue teams from Spain, Britain and Qatar joined efforts to find people buried under the rubble after a 6,8-magnitude earthquake hit the country on Friday evening, with the epicenter 72 kilometers southwest of Marrakesh.
Many survivors spent a fourth night in the open after their homes were demolished or declared unsafe. State television announced that 2681 people died in the earthquake, while over 2500 were injured.
Footage from the remote village of Imi Ntala, captured by Spanish rescuer Antonio Nogales of the humanitarian group United Firefighters Without Borders, shows men searching the ruins with dogs.
"The level of destruction is... complete," Nogales told Reuters, trying to find the right words to describe what he was seeing. “Not a single house is left. We will start a search with dogs to see if anyone survived.”
In Imgdal, a village about 75 kilometers from Marrakesh, women and children were yesterday staying in makeshift tents along the road and next to destroyed buildings.
In the village of Tafegagte, Hamid ben Hana described how his eight-year-old son died under the rubble after he went to the kitchen to get a watermelon knife while the family was preparing dinner. The rest of the family survived.
Since inaccessible areas were hardest hit, authorities have not released estimates of the number of missing. Since roads are blocked due to rockfalls, access to the worst affected areas is difficult.
Many structures collapsed easily, including a large number of traditional houses made of mud, stone and rough wood, which are characteristic of the High Atlas and attract a large number of tourists.
"It is difficult to get people alive from the ruins since most of the walls turned into dust and earth when they fell, leaving no room for breathing," one army member, who wished to remain anonymous, told Reuters.
The damage done to Morocco's cultural heritage is gradually becoming apparent. Buildings in the old part of Marrakech, which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, were damaged. The earthquake also caused serious damage to the historically significant 12th-century Tinmel Mosque, located in a remote mountainous area closer to the epicenter.
Survivors struggling to find shelter and supplies said the government's response has been slow, although yesterday it appeared that activity was accelerating. Neither King Muhammed VI nor Prime Minister Aziz Akanuš addressed the citizens until last night.
Morocco accepted help from Spain and Britain, which sent search and rescue teams, as well as help from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
The European Union has announced that it will initially make one million euros available to non-governmental humanitarian organizations in Morocco.
State television said the government had assessed the needs and considered the importance of coordinating humanitarian efforts before accepting aid and that it may later accept offers from other countries.
France and Germany played down the fact that Morocco did not immediately accept their offers of help.
Germany said yesterday that it saw no indication that the decision was politically motivated, while France said on Sunday that it was ready to help Morocco as soon as the country made an official request and that any controversy about it was "unfounded".
Relations between Paris and Rabat have soured in recent years mainly over the issue of Western Sahara, a disputed territory that Morocco wants France to recognize as Moroccan. Morocco has not had an ambassador in Paris since January, Reuters reminds.
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