After the recent devastating earthquake that hit Morocco, international relief teams are working around the clock to find survivors and provide assistance to affected communities. Tarek Kai, Abdullah Malkawi and Luke Shrago had the opportunity to go there and testify to the difficulty of the task of rescuers and humanitarians in the face of the massive destruction which fell on the villages of the High Atlas.
Rescue teams, made up of professionals from the United Kingdom, Spain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, are currently engaged in search and rescue operations under the rubble. Despite the difficult and dangerous conditions, they are sparing no effort to find survivors and provide emergency medical assistance.
In the village of Inerni, residents express their frustration at the lack of intervention from the authorities. They believe that if qualified teams and adequate support had been deployed earlier, more lives could have been saved. Some villagers even had to resort to digging themselves, with their bare hands, in the hope of finding their loved ones under the rubble.
The village of Imi N’Tala, located approximately 20 km from the epicenter of the earthquake, was completely devastated. Houses were buried under rocks and part of the mountain collapsed on the community. Rescuers, helped by Emirati and Moroccan teams, managed to find the body of a young man, but the search continues to find other possible victims.
Beyond efforts to find the bodies of the victims, many challenges now await the rescue teams and residents of the affected villages. The reconstruction of destroyed infrastructure and houses becomes an absolute priority. Additionally, it is essential to provide psychological support to survivors who have lost their loved ones and everything they owned.
This earthquake was a reminder of the fragility of human life and the need for international solidarity to deal with such disasters. The joint efforts of relief teams and the international community are essential to help Morocco recover from this tragedy and build a more solid and resilient future.