Morocco quake: Foreign rescuers join race to find survivors

The Moroccan government wants the International Monetary Fund-World Bank meetings in October to proceed despite the effects of a devastating earthquake, the Reuters news agency reported.

The meetings are to be held in Marrakesh, which was severely damaged by the quake.

"From the viewpoint of the Moroccan authorities, the annual

meetings of the IMF and World Bank will take place as scheduled:

October 9-15, 2023. There is no change of plan as of now," Reuters cited an unnamed Moroccan government source as saying.

Arnaud Fraisse, head of Emergency Responders Without Borders (SSF), told the France Inter broadcaster that aid workers had hoped to get on a flight to Morocco on Sunday.

"Unfortunately we still don't have the go-ahead from the Moroccan government," he said.

The SSF chief said he did not understand the reason for this "blockage."

Earlier, Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna insisted that Morocco was "sovereign" and entitled to determine its own needs.

The death toll in a deadly earthquake that hit Morocco rose to 2,681, Morocco's Interior Ministry said.

Another 2,501 people were injured in the quake, according to the ministry.

Rescuers warned that the traditional mud brick houses ubiquitous in the Atlas Mountains reduced the changes of finding survivors.

Witnesses told the German Press Agerncy (dpa) that rescue efforts were proceeding at a "steady but slow" pace.

The European Union is to provide €1 million ($1.07 million) to Morocco to support relief efforts in areas affected by the earthquake, the European Commission announced.

"As the EU stands in solidarity with the Moroccan people, we are releasing funding of €1 million to help meet the most urgent needs of the population most affected," EU Crisis Commissioner Janez Lenarcic said in a statement.

"The EU remains ready to assist Morocco in any way necessary during this difficult period," he added.

Germany does not see any indications that Morocco's decision to leave Berlin's earthquake aid offerings on the table is political, a German Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

"Diplomatic relations between Germany and Morocco are good," said the spokesperson, in comments carried by the Reuters news agency.

They added that the Moroccan side had thanked Berlin for its offer of help. Germany is among several countries, notably France, that have said they stand ready to help if asked.

As Germany learned from deadly flooding in 2021 in the Ahr valley, aid coordination is important during major disasters to ensure rescue workers do not impede each other, said the spokesperson.

"I'm sure that they (Morocco) have thought very carefully about which forces can be deployed where and how they can get there, what transport capacities are available, for example," the spokesperson added.

Morocco's King Mohammed VI on Sunday thanked Spain, Qatar, the UK and the United Arab Emirates for sending aid after the country's deadliest earthquake in over six decades, state TV reported. Morocco had assessed aid needs and considered the importance of coordinating relief efforts before accepting their help, it added.

As the death toll from Morocco's earthquake continues to mount, the "absolute focus and priority" must be finding people that are still alive under the rubble, a senior Red Cross official has told DW.

"Because that window unfortunately will start to close in the coming days," Caroline Holt, director of disaster, climate and crises at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent, said.

"The priority has to be to reach people wherever we possibly can, and there's a huge awareness that people are buried. It's purely a matter of access." 

While the Moroccan army has cleared routes to some remote mountain villages, "there are still many places that we as an aid community have not managed to reach yet," Holt added. "The logistical challenges of reaching those mountain villages shouldn't be underestimated."

An additional challenge is caring for the hundreds of people wounded in the quake.

"We now know that people are spending their third day outside — those that have survived," she said. "There are many of them that have some very severe injuries, severe head injuries, for instance. But we also know that broken bones are common in this situation." 

The death toll from Morocco's devastating earthquake has risen to 2,497, the Interior Ministry said, as search and rescue efforts continue.

Another 2,476 people were injured, the ministry said, updating a previous toll of 2,122 dead and 2,400 wounded. 

Morocco has deployed the army as part of its response and has said it is reinforcing search-and-rescue teams, providing drinking water and distributing food, tents and blankets. Search teams from Spain, Britain and Qatar have joined efforts to find survivors.

Friday's earthquake was the country's deadliest since 1960, when a tremor was estimated to have killed at least 12,000 people.

The French government has pledged €5 million ($5.4 million) to aid organizations operating in Morocco's earthquake disaster zone, Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told the BFM broadcaster.

Colonna also brushed off questions about the absence of any official Moroccan request for help from France. 

"We are ready to help Morocco. It's a sovereign Moroccan decision and it's up to them to decide," she said.

Asked why Morocco had accepted official aid from Spain and the United Kingdom, among others, but not from France, Colonna said "this debate is inappropriate."

"People are suffering. People need help," she added.

Relations between France and Morocco are strained, notably over the issue of Western Sahara, which Morocco wants France to recognize as Moroccan. However, Paris wants to improve its relations with Algeria, Morocco's arch rival and another of Paris' former colonies. Algiers backs the Polisario Front, a group which has fought for decades for independence for Western Sahara.

Meanwhile, Chinese state media reported that the Red Cross Society of China will give the Moroccan Red Crescent $200,000 (€186,000) for emergency humanitarian assistance.

Hlima Razkaoui, the Morocco director of humanitarian organization CARE International, has told DW that many people in areas devastated by the earthquake are living on the street and need water, food and shelter.

"People are still dealing with fear, they are still dealing with shock and with the loss of people, their families members," she said.

"Most of those in villages have lost their houses. Some still have fear of (a) second earthquake and do not want to get back to their homes, (so they) stay outside during the night," she explained.

Razkaoui said that Moroccan authorities and the army had already taken swift steps to save people and reach those in remote mountainous villages. "And now they already made the assessments about the needs and they are coordinating the efforts of the local civil society," she added.

Rescue teams from Spain, Britain and Qatar have begun supporting Moroccan rescuers in areas affected by Friday's powerful earthquake, the Moroccan news agency MAP reported.

Britain sent 60 search and rescue experts, along with equipment and four search dogs to support the Moroccan-led operations, British Ambassador Simon Martin said in a post published early Monday on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

A special Spanish military unit with 56 soldiers and four search dogs also arrived in Morocco. They have been assigned to the Talat N'Yaaqoub area, 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) from the epicenter, the Spanish Defense Ministry said on X.

Several countries, including Germany, have pledged to help Morocco in the wake of the earthquake, which struck south of Marrakech.

Rabat said Sunday it had so far responded to support offers made by Spain, Qatar, Britain and the UAE, adding that it may accept offers from other countries at a later stage.

The 6.8-magnitude earthquake has killed at least 2,122 people. Since Friday, rescuers have been racing against time to find potential survivors in a challenging mission.

The quake triggered rock slides, blocking roads and making it hard for teams to reach hard-hit villages in mountainous areas.

Witnesses said that, until Sunday, some affected areas were still cut off.

dh/nm (dpa, AP, AFP, Reuters)