1,000 Dead in Morocco Marrakesh Earthquake
Here is the latest on the deadly earthquake.
Rescue workers were combing through rubble in search of survivors on Saturday after a powerful earthquake surged across western Morocco overnight, killing more than 1,000 people and raising the specter of a humanitarian disaster in a seismically vulnerable area of the continent.
The quake, which struck in the High Atlas Mountains shortly after 11 p.m. on Friday, was indiscriminate in its demolition, rippling through the densely populated medinas of Marrakesh and rural villages ringing the city, where walls of earthen homes shook, cracked and collapsed.
The Gambia coach Tom Saintfiet said he feared a plane had crashed into his hotel after experiencing Friday’s devastating Morocco earthquake.
The Belgian football coach and his team are in Marrakesh for Sunday’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo.
Saintfiet said he had initially heard a lot of noise and thought it was someone knocking on his door.
He said a few seconds later he thought a plane had crashed into the hotel.
He described the experience as “shocking and terrible”.
Summary
- More than 1,000 people have died after a powerful earthquake struck central Morocco, according to the country’s interior ministry
- The quake – measuring magnitude 6.8 – sent people rushing into the streets in Marrakesh and other cities
- Many of the deaths were said to be in hard-to-reach mountain areas
- The quake struck just after 23:00 local time, at a relatively shallow depth of 71km (44 miles) south-west of Marrakesh, according to the US Geological Survey
- Dramatic video footage shows damaged buildings and rubble-strewn streets
Question mark over African Cup of Nations qualifier in Marrakesh
There are questions over whether the African Cup of Nations qualifier between Congo and the Gambia which is due to be held in Marrakesh on Sunday will go ahead.
Saturday’s qualifier between Morocco and Liberia, which was due to take place in Agadir – some 260km (160 miles) away from the quake’s epicentre – has already been called off.
The coaches of both teams due to play on Sunday say their players have been traumatised by the disaster, but have been told they must go ahead with their match, Reuters news agency reports.
“We have been told our match on Sunday must go ahead. It’s quite strange that the Morocco game is off, but ours is not,” Gambia coach Tom Saintfiet told Reuters.
The Confederation of African Football is in talks with the Moroccan FA about whether the game will take place.
Sunday’s game, which was due to decide who goes through to next year’s Afcon finals in the Ivory Coast, is being played in Marrakesh because The Gambia’s stadium was deemed unfit to host internationals
Huge damage to historic mosque
One of Morocco’s most famous squares, Jemaa el Fnaa, was hit in the Marrakesh earthquake.
There are many tourist attractions, historic buildings and popular cafes and restaurants around it.
The historic Jemaa el Fnaa mosque itself partly collapsed last night.
Here you can see the damages it has suffered, especially to its tower.
Dina Anwar, a reporter for World News Morocco, was in the country’s capital, Rabat, when the earthquake hit.
“We were lucky enough in Rabat to be evacuated immediately; unfortunately, it was not the same for other cities. We didn’t know what to do, we only knew that we shouldn’t be in our houses,” she recalls about last night.
She says people around her were panicking, but as a journalist, she was also trying to keep up with what was happening as well as trying to reach out to her loved ones in Agadir, her hometown.
“Communications are definitely impacted, there is an issue with trying to reach everyone. So many old buildings have been destroyed, it is a struggle to try to check on your loved ones.”
She says rural areas have been impacted more by the earthquake:
“And the most impacted areas are where we have a lot of old buildings. The toll is linked to the fact that we have infrastructure issues.”
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