Even days after the severe earthquake in Morocco, helpers have not yet been able to reach all the villages in the hard-hit Atlas Mountains. Footage from the Moroccan broadcaster TV 2M showed rescue workers dropping aid packages from planes on Wednesday morning. Accordingly, the helpers were still unable to reach the villages near the epicenter by land on the fifth day after the quake. There is still great need in many mountain villages.
Efforts to clear boulders from roads have been slow because of the ongoing threat of rockfall in some areas, a dpa reporter reported on Wednesday. A lot of blankets and food have already been delivered to the disaster region. However, many of the isolated people are asking authorities and aid workers to provide tents to protect them from the bitter cold at night.
The German Red Cross is now sending the first aid transport to the earthquake areas. On Thursday morning, a plane will take off from Leipzig/Halle Airport with a total of 36.6 tons of relief supplies, as the DRK announced on Wednesday. These include more than 3,000 insulating floor mats and 550 family tents.
In some places there are already tents for people who were made homeless by the earthquake – for example near the city of Douzrou.
(Photo: Mosa’ab Elshamy/dpa)
According to information from the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), around 100,000 children are affected by the disaster. Thousands of houses in the country were destroyed. As a result, many families have become homeless and have to spend the currently cold nights outdoors. The Moroccan government is under increasing pressure to accept more international aid. So far, the North African country has only officially accepted support from four countries.
The Interior Ministry reports 2,946 deaths, and the number is likely to rise
Light rain is expected in the disaster area on Wednesday and Thursday. Even light rainfall could hamper rescue and relief efforts in the hardest-hit region in the Atlas Mountains “and also endanger residents who have been without shelter since Friday,” the news portal reported Hespress. The weather office contradicted rumors that it would rain heavily.
King Mohammed VI Meanwhile, visited a hospital with injured people in Marrakech on Tuesday, as reported by the MAP news agency. The 60-year-old head of state donated blood for the victims. According to the Moroccan Interior Ministry, 2,946 dead and 5,674 injured have been counted so far. The numbers are still expected to continue to rise.
The hope of finding survivors is now vanishingly small. The quake on late Friday evening was the worst in Morocco in decades. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 300,000 people in Marrakech and surrounding areas are affected by the accident.