Aid Flows into Village Buried by Rockfall in Morocco’s Al Haouz Region
(AWP) - Aid pours in from everywhere to help the residents of a devastated village in the province of Al Haouz, central Morocco, after it was showered with mountain rocks following a powerful earthquake a few days ago.
The quake, which measured seven on the Richter scale, caused buildings and houses to collapse in the village of Emin Tala, leaving people homeless overnight.
The Moroccan authorities are in a race against time to offer help to the victims after thousands were killed and injured. At the same time, they are working to meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of people affected, particularly in remote areas.
Trucks loaded with aid reached the village, which is in Al Haouz, the epicentre of the earthquake, while search and rescue teams continue digging through the rubble for possible survivors.
Mohammed Bouyahya, a volunteer, said the search operations were still ongoing by the civil protection teams as dozens of bodies remained under the debris.
He said, “Food supplies are abundantly available. All the people need are tents for shelter. We were told the tents will be handed out to families.”
Omar, another volunteer, extended thanks to all agencies that sent aid to the victims, adding that circumstances were made even more difficult in light of the landslides that followed the earthquake.
He said, “We offer thanks to all Moroccans and all organisations in Morocco and Europe. We are volunteers. We spend many hours here to offer all the help we can. We have more than 15 affected villages. Later, we will return [home] on foot.”
Although a large amount of aid has reached the disadvantaged areas, the affected village residents who were made homeless demanded housing be provided ahead of the rainy season.
Belaid Ayet al-Rayes, one of the affected residents, said, “Thank God; food, water and tents are available. What we ask of our king and government is to make efforts to provide housing for the citizens.”
The tourist mountain village was almost completely destroyed in the earthquake, with rescue teams recovering around 100 bodies so far.
Search operations continue with the support of foreign relief teams to recover more bodies, while the authorities are accelerating efforts to provide shelter for as many victims as possible on the outskirts of the area.