Morocco to Receive Foreign Aid as Rescue Efforts Continue

First responders and rescue teams from around the world are heading to Morocco to help find survivors in the aftermath of a devastating 6.8-magnitude earthquake.

The local government has reported that at least 2 122 people have died due to what has been dubbed one of the strongest earthquakes in the country’s recent history. The tremors took place on the evening of Friday, 8 September.

Moroccan authorities have announced that they will be limiting the number of countries they accept aid from, and assessing each offer carefully as “a lack of coordination could be counter-productive”.

So far, the north African country has accepted help from Spain, the United Kingdom, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The United States of America has also claimed that a team of trained disaster specialists arrived in the country on Sunday, 10 September, to aid in relief efforts.

Rescue teams have been particularly slow in the hills of the Atlas mountain range – the earthquake’s epicentre – where entire villages are believed to have been wiped out. Many of the houses in the area were built from mud bricks, and the people living within them have received little to no help as they attempt to coordinate their own rescue efforts.

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