Morocco earthquake: Mountain villagers grieve

As I turned the final corner of the winding road into the Moroccan mountain village of Moulay Brahim, I knew immediately that I had arrived in a village devastated by the deadly earthquake that struck Friday night.

An old woman staggered towards us. He was crying, holding his head in his hands.

A few meters away, a group of young men were sobbing. They just found out that their friend was one of the dead.

One of them said, “So many people died today.”

“My friend was crushed (by the rubble of the building). The funeral was held today, but he was too young.”

Another man named Mohammed, who is helping to temporarily control the situation, said 16 people had already been buried in this village alone. These are the people who were recovered from the rubble of the building on the 9th. The remaining two victims are also scheduled to be buried on the 10th.

“We have been working non-stop every minute since the incident,” he said. “There are only about 10 people working here and we are trying to find people inside the building. It is a hopeless situation.”

There seemed to be some hope with the arrival of Red Crescent members. But this is a disaster that is much bigger and requires a more organized response.

“We have nothing,” Mohammed said. “We need everything: food, medicine, shelter.”

These moments of destruction and despair are unfolding in many areas of the earthquake-hit High Atlas Mountains.

The winding 90-minute road from Marrakech to a remote mountainside was lined with rocks and stones, making driving difficult.

Some roads are broken and blocked, seriously hampering rescue efforts. Rescue workers are being sent to the hardest-hit areas in major cities, including Marrakech, to rescue survivors from the rubble.

Even on our way to the village, a line of ambulances passed our car and headed somewhere. Although we can get a rough idea of ​​what kind of scene the emergency workers will encounter through aerial footage, it is still too early to estimate how many people have lost their lives.

If miracles are to occur in the next few hours, heavy equipment will need to be mobilized not only from Moulay Brahim but also from many other places. Hands and a hammer alone are not enough.

In Marrakech, thousands of people are waiting outside for a second night. Roundabouts, parking lots, and plazas are filled with people of various ages wearing blankets.

However, it is difficult to find someone who actually sleeps, or at least falls into a deep sleep. This is because the fear of another earthquake does not disappear just because you are outside in a relatively safe area.

Many streets of the historic city of Marrakech remain in rubble, but the situation is better than in the mountainous southwest.

Restaurant owner Safa El Hakim is trying to take a positive approach to the situation.

“Thank God it ended with just the walls and materials gone,” he said. “The important stuff still remains.”

“And thank you, God, for the strength of humanity in Morocco. We are all coming together and helping each other.”

Additional reporting: Casey Long