Search, rescue operations continue for 9th day in quake-hit Morocco

By Abdelmajid Amyay

RABAT, Morocco (AA) – Search and rescue teams in Morocco on Saturday continued efforts for the ninth consecutive day to look for survivors following the devastating earthquake that struck the country last week.

Rescue efforts, however, encountered some difficult terrain in the affected provinces due to the presence of high mountains, according to an Anadolu reporter.

Residents, whose homes collapsed due to the earthquake, were re-housed in tents in a protective measure against bad weather conditions, a source told the state news agency MAP on condition of anonymity.

Companies and state institutions also continued providing financial contributions to special accounts set up by the government to confront the effects of the earthquake.

Last Sunday, the Moroccan government set up special bank accounts to collect donations from the public to provide aid to quake survivors.

The Moroccan government decided that the ministers would contribute one month's salary in support of the earthquake victims.

“State agents, and employees of public companies and institutions may, in an optional and voluntary capacity, contribute one day’s wages for each month over a period of three months,” Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch said on Friday.

Some 3,000 people were killed and 6,125 injured when a magnitude 7 earthquake struck Morocco on Sept. 8. At least 50,000 houses have collapsed completely or partially by the quake.

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

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi