With a death toll rising to 2,012, the devastation caused by Friday's earthquake in Morocco exceeds the most pessimistic predictions on Sunday.
Rabat.- On Saturday, King Mohammed VI of Morocco declared three days of national mourning in honor of the victims of the earthquake, whose final number will be revealed only when the rescue works have been completed. Authorities began to send food, drinking water, and blankets to people, who are sleeping outdoors.
Sunday’s efforts focused on the small mountain towns that are more difficult to reach and where the human and material losses have not been estimated yet.
On Sunday, rescuers and residents in the disaster area moved through the rubble to search for survivors or the bodies of victims of the 6.8-magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale, the worst that has shaken this North African country in over six decades.
POPE FRANCIS REAFFIRMS CLOSENESS TO THE MOROCCAN PEOPLE
Vatican City.- Pope Francis on Sunday reaffirmed his closeness to the people of Morocco, after the earthquake that shook that country at 11:11 p.m., local time, on Friday, with more than 2,000 deaths so far.
After the Sunday prayer of the Angelus, from the window of his study in the Apostolic Palace, the Supreme Pontiff expressed at noon, before thousands of religious people who gathered in St. Peter’s Square, his pain for the victims of the magnitude 6.8 earthquake on the Richter scale, according to a press release from the Vatican press office.
“I pray for the injured, for those who have lost their lives, so many! And for their families. I thank the rescuers and those who are working to alleviate people’s suffering. Concrete help from everyone can sustain the population in this tragic moment. We are close to the people of Morocco!," the Pope noted.
Previously, on Saturday, in a message signed by the Vatican Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, the Supreme Pontiff underlined that he had prayed for those who died in that tragedy and offered his closeness to those who lost loved ones and their homes, at the same time that he acknowledged the work of those participating in relief efforts.
The epicenter of the devastating earthquake was located 70 kilometers from the city of Marrakech, at a depth of ten kilometers, and the provisional number of deaths on Sunday amounted to 2,012, with a similar number of injured, more than 1,000 of whom are seriously wounded, in addition to considerable material damage.
DOM REP EXPRESSES CONDOLENCES TO MOROCCO
Santo Domingo.- President Luis Abinader expressed his condolences and solidarity to the people of Morocco on Sunday, after a devastating earthquake that killed more than 2,000 people and caused significant material damage.
On the X platform, formerly Twitter, Abinader expressed his support for King Mohammed VI of Morocco and his people for the tragedy that occurred on Friday, September 8.
“In the name of the Dominican Republic, we send our condolences to the victims’ families. We are united in these difficult times,” the Dominican president wrote on X.
Morocco’s Interior Ministry confirmed on Saturday that casualties had been reported in a dozen provinces, while more than 2,000 people were injured, some in serious condition. (PL)
