The King of Morocco, Sidi Mohammed bin Hassan al-Alawi (Mohammed VI) has declared three days of national mourning after a deadly earthquake hit the country on Friday night, September 8, 2023, killing over 2,500, while at least 2,476 have been critically injured.
The world community has responded by offering assistance to Moroccan authorities in locating the survivors remaining underneath the buildings and continue to mourn with the country.
King Mohammed VI also asked all mosques across the country to hold funeral prayers known as janazah, and flags be flown at half mast in the whole country.
This has been the biggest natural disaster in decades since the 6.8 magnitude earthquake was the strongest to hit Morocco in more than 120 years.
However, efforts have been increased to find survivors of the devastating earthquake since death tolls keep rising per minute.
They have reported that the most affected area was in the Al Houz province in the High Atlas Mountains 50 miles south of Marrakech, Morocco, having the most impact and death cases.
Despite many people still being buried somewhere under buildings, locals have managed to rescue people.
Dozens of tents have been provided as shelter to people whose houses were destroyed during the earthquake, while emergency camps have been set up in many places to help people with food and medical attention.
“We are having a challenge to find enough space to bury the dead and as the rescuer team is carrying on with trying to find survivors, others are digging more graves to accommodate more bodies,” a villager said.
According to BBC reports, many Moroccan football team players have also continued to donate blood in case it is needed by the casualties.
“We continue to see acts of services by big names in the football, like Christian Ronaldo, who offered his hotel in Morocco to be used at no charge,” BBC stated.
The Red Cross believes that Morocco will take years to rebuild the damage caused by the earthquake.
