People in Morocco slept in the streets of Marrakech for a third straight night as soldiers and international aid teams in trucks and helicopters began to fan into remote mountain towns hit hardest …
AMIZMIZ, Morocco — People in Morocco slept in the streets of Marrakech for a third straight night as soldiers and international aid teams in trucks and helicopters began to fan into remote mountain towns hit hardest by a historic earthquake.
While some foreign search-and-rescue teams arrived on Sunday as an aftershock rattled Moroccans already in mourning and shock, other aid teams poised to deploy grew frustrated waiting for the government to officially request assistance. Residents swept rubble off the main road into town and people cheered when trucks full of soldiers arrived. But they pleaded for more help.
In a region where many build bricks out of mud, Friday’s earthquake toppled buildings not strong enough to withstand such a mighty temblor, trapping people in the rubble and sending others fleeing in terror. A total of 2,122 people were confirmed dead and at least 2,421 others were injured — 1,404 of them critically, the Interior Ministry reported.
Though it said for the first time Sunday that it would accept aid from four countries, Morocco has not made an international appeal for help like Turkey did in the hours following a massive quake earlier this year, according to aid groups. In France, which has many ties to Morocco and said four of its citizens died in the quake, towns and cities have offered more than 2 million euros in aid. Popular performers are collecting donations.