Morocco earthquake: CCTV shows moment as death toll hits 2000

The footage, which has been shared on social media, shows two men sitting on a bench in the tourist city of Marrakesh, over 300km from the capital of Rabat, as hordes of people run down the street.

Noticing the chaos, the men join the crowds before debris reigns down from above, appearing to hit seats where they were sitting just moments earlier.

As rescue efforts continue, the death toll from the earthquake, which struck the mountains 72 kilometres southwest of Marrakesh on Friday night, continues to rise.

At least 2,012 people are confirmed dead, while 2,059 were injured, including 1,404 in a critical condition, the interior ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Of that number, 1,293 dead were recorded in the province of Al-Haouz, the epicentre of the earthquake, and 452 in Taroudant province, the two worst-hit areas.

The authorities were still mobilising to step up rescue operations and to evacuate the injured, the ministry added.

It was the strongest-ever quake to hit the North African kingdom, with one expert describing it as the region’s “biggest in more than 120 years”.

“Where destructive earthquakes are rare, buildings are simply not constructed robustly enough … so many collapse, resulting in high casualties,” said Bill McGuire, professor emeritus at Britain’s University College London.

One survivor, Ayoub Toudite, told The Associated Press he had been working out with friends at a gym when “we felt a huge shake like it was doomsday”.

“We found casualties and people running and kids crying,” he said. “We never saw anything like this, 20 deaths in the area, 30 injuries.”

In the mountain village of Tafeghaghte near the quake’s epicentre, virtually no buildings were left standing. The traditional clay bricks used by the region’s Berber inhabitants proved no match for the rare quake.

“Three of my grandchildren and their mother were killed — they are still under the rubble,” villager Omar Benhanna, 72, told AFP.

“Just a while ago, we were all playing together,” he added.

Civil defence Colonel Hicham Choukri who is heading relief operations told state television earlier the epicentre and strength of the earthquake created “an exceptional emergency situation”.

After a meeting chaired by King Mohammed VI, the palace announced three days of national mourning, with flags to fly at half-mast on all public buildings.

Significant damage likely

The USGS PAGER system, which provides preliminary assessments on the impact of earthquakes, issued a “red alert” for economic losses, saying extensive damage is probable.

The Red Cross said it was mobilising resources to support the Moroccan Red Crescent, but its Middle East and North Africa director, Hossam Elsharkawi, warned: “We are looking at many months if not years of response.”

Foreign leaders have expressed their condolences and many offered assistance, including Israel with which Morocco normalised relations in 2020.

Neighbour and regional rival Algeria announced it was suspending a two-year-old ban on all

Moroccan flights through its airspace to enable aid deliveries and medical evacuations.

US President Joe Biden said he was “deeply saddened by the loss of life and devastation”.

World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the quake as “heartbreaking”, adding: “We stand ready to support the immediate health needs.”

In Europe, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, of Morocco’s cross-strait neighbour Spain, expressed his “solidarity and support to the people of Morocco in the wake of this terrible earthquake … Spain is with the victims of this tragedy”.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he was “devastated”, adding “France stands ready to help with first aid”.

In 2004, at least 628 people were killed and 926 injured when a quake hit Al Hoceima in northeastern Morocco, and in 1960 a magnitude 6.7 quake in Agadir killed more than 12,000.