Saudi Arabia launches air bridge to send aid to quake-hit Morocco

By Ibrahim al-Khazen

ISTANBUL (AA) - Saudi Arabia has decided to launch an air bridge to provide relief to Morocco following Friday’s deadly earthquake which left more than 2,100 people dead.

King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman directed King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre to “operate an air bridge to provide various relief aid to mitigate the effects of the earthquake on the brotherly Moroccan people,” the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported late Sunday.

Riyadh is also set to dispatch a search and rescue crew to participate in relief and humanitarian activities to help the people affected by the earthquake, according to Abdullah al-Rabeeah, the general supervisor of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, said.

Various Arab countries have sent relief to Morocco including Oman, the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain.

At least 2,122 people were killed and 2,421 others were injured when a magnitude 7 earthquake struck Morocco late Friday, according to the Interior Ministry.

The quake was the strongest to hit the North African country in the last century, according to Morocco’s National Geophysical Institute.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat