TAFEGHAGHTE (Morocco), Sept 11 — Using heavy equipment and even their bare hands, rescuers in Morocco on Sunday stepped up efforts to find survivors of a devastating earthquake...
TAFEGHAGHTE , Sept 11 — Using heavy equipment and even their bare hands, rescuers in Morocco on Sunday stepped up efforts to find survivors of a devastating earthquake that killed more than 2,100 people and flattened villages.
Amid the debris, civilian rescuers and members of Morocco’s armed forces searched for survivors and the bodies of the dead. In the village of Amizmiz, near Tafeghaghte, a backhoe dragged away the heaviest pieces of rubble before rescuers dug into the dusty debris to remove a body that appeared to be under a quilt.The two villages lie in Al-Haouz province, site of the epicentre, where authorities recorded 1,351 deaths.
In Marrakesh, resident Fatema Satir had spent two nights sleeping on the streets, like many others fearing their houses might collapse. The interior ministry said in a statement it had responded favourably “at this stage” to offers from the four “to send search and rescue teams”. The United States said it also had search-and-rescue teams ready to deploy, and Pope Francis on Sunday again expressed support for those affected by the disaster.