The death toll from the violent earthquake that hit Morocco on Friday night rises to almost 2,500. The Moroccan media Medias24 writes this, citing the Ministry of the Interior.
The injured, he adds, are at least 2,476.
According to the new official toll, among the most affected areas are the provinces of Al Haouz with 1,452 victims, Taroudant with 764 and Chichaoua with 202. Followed by the provinces of Ouarzazate with 38 deaths, Marrakech (18), Azilal (11) and prefecture of Agadir (5). In the Greater Casablanca there are 3 victims. Deaths have also been reported in the provinces of Youssofia and Tinghir.
We dig, without stopping and even with our bare hands to find more life under the piles of rubble : "The next few hours are crucial", recalls the Red Cross and the International Crescent. Especially in those rural and remote areas, the epicenter of the earthquake, which still remain isolated, with relief efforts struggling to reach the villages.
«We have reached places where no help has arrived, there are still dead under the rubble and people trying to get them out alone. Here the people are deprived of any assistance and no one had arrived, when they saw us they threw themselves into our cars", says Cicchetti Marchegiani, president of the Emergency Operational Group (Roe), a mobile column of Civil Protection, which started from Rome and now in Morocco with a team of four people.
AID AND CONTROVERSY – Meanwhile, from Kuwait to Azerbaijan, dozens of countries are offering to help Morocco. However, for now it has decided to accept the support of only four states, raising controversy.
Rabat, the Ministry of the Interior said in a note, has "carried out a precise assessment of the needs in the field" and "in this specific phase" of the dramatic emergency caused by the earthquake "has responded favorably to offers of support from friendly countries, namely from Spain, Qatar, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates."
The Moroccan Interior Ministry justified its decision "taking into account that the lack of coordination in such situations could be counterproductive ." In any case, the government does not rule out asking for help from other countries, if necessary: «With the progress of intervention operations, the assessment of possible needs could evolve, which would allow us to take advantage of the offers of support presented by other friendly countries , according to the specific needs of each phase".
(Unioneonline/D)
