The total number of people who died in Friday’s deadly earthquake in Morocco has risen to 2,122 with the number set to rise further as recovery operations proceed.
On Friday night, around 11:11 pm local time, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck the area around the ancient city of Marrakech, with tremors spreading deep into rural communities on Atlas Mountains.
The country has announced a three-day mourning period as local and foreign rescuers mount frantic searches for survivors buried beneath rubble.
The earthquake, originating from the High Atlas Mountains located southwest of Marrakesh, was felt across the country, including in the provinces of Ouarzazate, Marrakesh, Azilal, Chichaoua and Taroudant; travelling all the way to southern Spain.
As of now, 2,421 people have been injured while the United Nations has estimated that about 300,000 people have been affected.
Since the catastrophe, locals have been sleeping on the streets in towns and cities. Rural areas have taken a huge blow, while a historically significant 12th century mosque has also collapsed along with parts of Marrakech old city, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Al-Jazeera spoke with Lanchen Haddad, a Moroccan senator and former minister, who said that the area was “not known for being active in terms of earthquakes”.
“There’s not been very many earthquakes in that part of Morocco, most occur in the area much farther north on the Mediterranean coast near the tectonic plate,”
World offers aid
The rescue operation in remote mountain areas was mainly undertaken by local teams and no broad demand for international aid had been issued by the capital, Rabat, up till Sunday.
Many countries have offered aid to Morocco including Spain, Tunisia, Qatar, Italy, Israel.
Turkey, US and Taiwan have rescue teams and specialist search ready and are ready to dispatch their aid as soon as Morocco send a green signal.
Its neighbour, Algeria, has a frictional relationship with Morocco, but after the tragedy, it opened its airspace that was closed for two years, to ease the flights carrying humanitarian aid and the injured.
At the G20 Summit in New Delhi, President Emmanuel Macron said, “France is ready to offer aid to Morocco if Morocco decides it is useful,”
“The second they request this aid, it will be deployed,” he added.
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