Efforts were stepped up to find survivors in flattened villages using heavy equipment and even bare hands in the powerful earthquake that hit the North African Country over the weekend that has killed at least 2122 people while 2421 were injured and in critical condition. The reports that the first foreign rescuers flew in as earthquake’s 6.8 magnitude struck 72 kilometres ($%miles) south west of the tourist hub of Marrakesh, wiping the entire villages in the hills of the Atlas mountains on Friday. On Sunday, an aftershock of 4.5 magnitude rattled the already traumatised residents in the same residents with the mountain village of Tefeghate almost entirely destroyed with few buildings still standing.

Amid the debris, civilian rescuers and the Morocco’s armed forces searched for survivors and the bodies of the dead. AFP saw them recover one body from the ruins of a house, four others were still buried there a resident said.

“everyone is gone! my hear is broken. I am inconsolable” cried Zahra Benbril 62 who said she had lost 18 relatives with only the body of her brother still trapped….”

It was reported that many houses in remote mountains villages were built from mud bricks. Rescuers dug into the dusty debris with bare hands to remove a body that appeared to be under a quilt after a backhoe dragged away the heaviest pieces of rubble in the Amizmiz near Tefeghaghte. The tow villages suffered the most deaths with 1,293. Citizens rushed to the hospital to donate blood to help injured persons. Spain’s defence ministry sent A400 airlifter with 56 rescuers and four search dogs from Zaragoza, heading for Marrakesh to help search and rescue.

The defence Minsiter Margarita Robles told the Spanish Public Television that they will send whatever is needed because the few first hours are key especially for those buried under the rubble. Many residents are reportedly to spend a second night sleeping outside huddled together under blankets and among bags filled with their luggages for fear of houses collapsing. The kingdom has declared a three-day national mourning and a prayer for the quake victims to be held yesterday in all the kingdom mosques.

In addition to Spain, several countries offered aid like France who mobilised all technical and security teams to intervene when the Moroccan’s authorities deem it useful. Indian and the heads of world bank, IMF, African Union and European Commission also pledged in a joint statement to mobilse technical and financial tools and assistance. Similarly, The USA has also said its search and rescue teams are ready to deploy. Pope Francis yesterday again expressed support for those affected in the disaster from the Vatican window above St. Peter’s Square.

Algeria who had a long tensed relations with Morocco opened its airspace which had been closed for two years, to enable flights carrying humanitarian aid and for evacuating the injured. Isreal also offered to send search and rescue teams. The quake was the deadliest in Morocco since a 1960 earth quake destroyed Agadir and killed more than 12,000 people.

SOURCE: VANGUARD