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| Thursday, 26 February 2004 |
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Over 500 dead, 300 injured in Morocco earthquake MOROCCO, Wednesday (AFP) At least 564 people were killed and some 300 injured after a powerful earthquake rocked northeastern Morocco Tuesday, leaving hospitals struggling to cope with a flood of casualties amid a desperate search through devastated villages for survivors. As aftershocks rippled across the region, thousands of panicked residents prepared to spend the night in the open. The death toll, released late Tuesday by the Moroccan official MAP news agency, confirmed fears of a high number of casualties from the quake in Al Hoceima province, which includes both Mediterranean ports and remote mountain hamlets. The quake, which struck at 2:27 am (0227 GMT), was measured at 6.3 on the Richter scale by French seismologists and was felt as far away as in southern Spain. Search and rescue teams continued to discover more victims as they reached many small villages far up in the mountains. In Imzouren, some 10 kilometres (six miles) south of Al Hoceima port, an official said the quake had "entirely destroyed" 40 houses filled with sleeping residents. Cries of "Allah Akbar" (God is Greatest) filled the air in this ruined small town with each discovery of a victim buried beneath the debris. "It's God's will," Fatima, a young veiled girl from the hardest-hit part of the town, told AFP, while Ahmed Khattabi expressed anger as he waited for help to arrive. "Two members of my family are still buried under the debris," he said. The first burials of victims began in the afternoon near Al Hoceima, AFP witnessed. Meanwhile, hundreds of aftershocks continued to ripple across the region Tuesday, including a midday tremor measured by a Moroccan geophysical centre at 4.1 on the Richter scale. King Mohammed VI was due to visit the quake-hit region in order "to be close to his subjects and to follow the rescue operations", the official MAP agency said. Many shocked and injured people had flooded into Al Hoceima in a state of "total panic", doctor Mohammed Lacghar told AFP by telephone, saying he had "never seen anything like it" in the clinic he ran in the town. Local officials said hundreds of injured were coming to the port of 100,000 residents, which seemed to have escaped major damage. Thousands spent the night outside in the port city Tuesday, too afraid to return indoors for fear of another quake. Trucks, tents, cars and open spaces were converted into emergency camping spots, as close to half of the city's population opted to sleep outdoors, a local human rights official, Omar Lamallam, told AFP. One hospital there was overflowing and the injured were evacuated to a local army barracks and to a charity home, Mohamed Boudra, the head of the local council, said earlier in the day. |
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