Moroccans spent their second night in the streets after a powerful earthquake killed more than 2,000 people

Moulay Ibrahim
CNN
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Rescuers in Morocco are making unremitting efforts to find survivors of Friday’s drowning Strong earthquakeMore than 2,000 people were killed and remote villages near the epicenter were destroyed.

In the hard-hit downtown village of Moulay Brahim, south of Marrakesh in the Atlas Mountains, CNN found a family living in a makeshift camp on a soccer field, and authorities told them it could be a week before they could return home. Firefighters are leading the rescue effort, but it is too dangerous to enter some buildings.

The building where Mina Bakkenzis lived was almost completely destroyed. “People came and took me out,” she said. “Nothing fell on me. I was very lucky.”

There have been offers of assistance from all over the world, but it is not clear how much aid is reaching those in need. The United Nations said on Saturday that it had offered support, but that Morocco was responding itself.

Although dozens of Spanish rescuers arrived in Marrakesh on Sunday after Morocco officially requested help, Spanish officials say. The official Al-Oula channel reported that Moroccan King Mohammed VI also thanked Spain, Qatar, Britain and the United Arab Emirates for sending aid.

6.8 magnitude earthquake It hit late Friday. It was also the strongest earthquake to hit the area around Marrakesh’s old city in a century, according to the US Geological Survey.

State radio 2M said the death toll had risen to 2,122 by Sunday afternoon, with 2,421 more injured.

The death toll is expected to rise further as rescuers dig through the rubble of collapsed homes in remote areas of the Atlas Mountains.

In Marrakesh, the largest city close to the epicenter and a major tourist attraction, several families spent Saturday night outdoors, as authorities warned residents to be extremely careful of aftershocks.

Hatami, 53, was sleeping in a park in central Marrakesh with her entire family, including her young children. She said it got cold at night, so they stayed together. “Everyone was outside. All the neighbors, everyone. We don’t want to go in, everyone is scared, and the shaking was very strong,” she told CNN.

People stayed away from damaged buildings in the crowded medieval city center as well as the surrounding red earth walls, parts of which had collapsed.

In Oliveira Park in central Marrakesh, hundreds of people, including children and the elderly, sleep on temporary blankets and mattresses. Families huddled together trying to get some rest after the shock and panic of the previous night.

Some brought bags of clothes and food, preparing to stay away from their homes for a longer period.

The King issued instructions to form a relief services committee to provide care, housing, and food for those affected. He also ordered mosques across the country to hold funeral prayers at noon on Sunday for the dead.

Flags throughout the city are flown at half mast on the occasion of the three-day national mourning declared by the monarchy.

At Marrakesh Airport, dozens of tourists slept on the floor in the main hall, waiting for the departure flight. Flights to and from the tourist center remained operating mostly as normal.

Scenes of destruction and despair also appeared in the villages scattered on the slopes of the Atlas Mountains, where the epicenter of the earthquake was.

These remote areas witnessed the largest number of deaths, as mud-brick houses collapsed on residents and rocks blocked the way for rescue teams to arrive.

Aerial footage showed villages perched on cliffs flattened into piles of rubble in the quake’s aftermath.

Fatima, 50, told CNN that her home in the mountain village of Asni was destroyed.

“I barely had a chance to grab the children and run away before I saw my house collapse before my eyes,” she added. “The neighbor’s house also collapsed and there are two dead under the rubble.”

Mohammed, 50, from the nearby town of Werkan, lost four members of his family in the earthquake.

“I was able to get out safely with my baby but I lost the rest. My house is gone,” he said.

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Rescue operations there are continuing.

“We are in the streets with the authorities trying to extract the dead from under the rubble. Several people were taken to the hospital in front of me. We hope for miracles to come from under the rubble,” Mohammed said.

In the small town of Moulay Brahim, footage released by Reuters showed villagers digging through rubble to retrieve bodies.

Rescuers are racing against time. The first 72 hours after an earthquake is the most critical period for finding survivors, as the condition of trapped and injured people can rapidly deteriorate beyond that period.

“They call it the ‘golden period’ because if you want to get people out of the rubble, this is the time to do it,” said Joe English, a spokesman for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

“These towns and villages are remote and difficult to reach… International support and solidarity is critical,” he added.

The World Health Organization said more than 300,000 people were affected by the powerful tremors that hit Marrakesh and surrounding areas.

The Moroccan Ministry of Education announced, in a statement published by 2M Channel, that educational services will be suspended starting Monday in 42 rural communities and villages in the provinces of Al Haouz, Chichaoua and Taroudant affected by the earthquake.

The country has not witnessed a similar disaster since 2004, when a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck the coastal city of Al Hoceima, killing about 630 people.

The worst earthquake in Morocco in the modern era occurred in 1960 near the western city of Agadir, killing at least 12,000 people.