C T Online Desk: Medics treated a constant flow of casualties after Morocco’s strongest-ever earthquake killed more than 2,800 people, but hopes were fading Tuesday of finding more survivors under the rubble.
Rescuers supported by foreign teams faced a race against time to find those still alive after villages in the Atlas mountains were devastated by the 6.8-magnitude disaster that struck over the weekend.
It was the deadliest quake to hit the North African country since a 1960 earthquake destroyed Agadir, killing thousands.
The epicentre of Friday’s late-night tremor was in Al-Haouz province southwest of the tourist hub of Marrakesh. Most of the victims died in Al-Haouz, authorities reported.
Overall, at least 2,862 people died and more than 2,500 were injured in the tragedy, according to an official toll late Monday.
Moroccan rescuers backed by teams from Spain, Britain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are now up against the clock.
“The big difficulty is in zones remote and difficult to access, like here, but the injured are choppered out,” Annika Coll, who heads the Spanish team, told AFP in the disaster-stricken community of Talat Nyacoub.
About 70 kilometres (40 miles) north, another Spanish team from the Military Emergencies Unit (UME) had set up camp since late Sunday on the edge of Amizmiz village.
Albert Vasquez, the Spanish unit’s communications officer, warned Monday that “it’s very difficult to find people alive after three days” but “hope is still there”.
Rabat on Sunday announced it had accepted offers to send search and rescue teams from Britain, Qatar and the UAE, as well as Spain.
