‘The people alive have been pulled out,’ rescuer says
As the search for survivors across a vast expanse of the High Atlas Mountain mountains enters its fourth day, rescuers face a sea of rubble. Professionals work alongside local people digging with bare hands.
But for some, hope has faded.
“Already the people alive [have] been pulled out. But unfortunately there are still corpses in the rubble we’re trying to help the families to recover,” said Borja Gonzalez de Escalada, mission director for SAMU First Response, a non-profit aid organization based in Washington.
One village was almost entirely destroyed by earthquake
TINMEL, Morocco — In the village of Tinmel, almost every house was pulverized and the entire community has been left homeless. The stench of death from dozens of animals buried under the rubble wafts through parts of the village.
Mouhamad Elhasan, 59, said he had been eating dinner with his family when the earthquake struck. His 31-year-old son fled outside and was hit as their neighbor’s roof collapsed, trapping him under the rubble.
Elhasan said he searched for his son as he cried for help. But eventually the cries stopped, and by the time he reached his son he was dead. Elhasan and his wife and daughter remained inside their home and survived.
“If he had stayed inside the house he would have been ok,” Elhasan said.
British firefighters join rescue and aid effort
Firefighters from across the United Kingdom are among the rescuers desperately trying to find any signs of life amid the tons of debris in mountainous areas, as well as distributing aid to survivors.
A crew from the London Fire Brigade touched down in Morocco yesterday and is now based in the village of Amizmiz. “They’re undertaking needs assessments in remote villages — they’ll be prioritizing those in need of rescue, medical aid, water, food & shelter,” the brigade said on X, formerly Twitter.
Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service sent out a team of five, who traveled out on Sunday. This includes station manager Martin Foran, who went to assist in the aftermath of the Turkey-Syria earthquake earlier this year, the service said.
‘Everyone is dead’: A small village is destroyed by the quake
TAFEGHAGHTE, Morocco — The smell of rotting bodies hangs in the air in this small mountain village, whose dead have been buried in shallow, temporary graves without caskets. Bramble and stones cover them to keep the dogs away.
There are only 100 homes in this hamlet, yet more than 90 people are dead. The last of the corpses was recovered Monday morning.
The government-supplied bulldozer clawing through the rubble is now only searching for salvageable belongings.
How to help the victims of the Morocco earthquake
The United Nations estimates 300,000 people in the region were affected, with many sleeping outside amid concerns over aftershocks.
Now, international aid groups are raising money to help those in need as the desperate search continues for survivors of Morocco’s deadliest earthquake in more than six decades.
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