By Sana Noor Haq and Ed Upright, CNN
From CNN’s Mostafa Salem
The death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck Morocco on Friday has increased to at least 2,497 people, as of 10 a.m. local time (5 a.m. ET) on Monday, state media said.
Another 2,476 people have been injured.
The disaster killed 1,452 people in Al Houz region, 764 in Taroudant, 202 in Chichaoua, 41 in Ouarzazate, 18 in Marrakech, 11 in Azilal, five in Agadir, three in Casablanca province, and one person in Youssoufia province.
From CNN’s Mengchen Zhang
The Red Cross Society of China said it will send $200,000 in emergency humanitarian cash assistance to the Moroccan Red Crescent
The aid is to support rescue and relief work being carried out after the magnitude 6.8 quake that struck Morocco Friday, the Chinese Red Cross said in a Monday statement.
Leaders from other countries including Turkey, France, and the UAE have pledged to send donations, to bolster emergency operations in the wake of the disaster.
From CNN's Ivana Kottasová in the Atlas Mountains
Ibrahim Goodman has lived in his village near the Moroccan town of Asni his whole life. He grew up here and now has three children.
That village, his home, is now mostly rubble. At least 20 people died there in Friday's devastating earthquake, authorities say.
The first aid — some tents, and food and water — arrived in the village on Sunday, some 36 hours after the earthquake hit late on Friday night.
But at least they got something, Goodman told CNN. “For now, we are OK,” he said.
There are villages further up where the help still can’t get to. The roads are blocked. They are clearing them now,” he said.
His 6-year-old son Mohamed has just started first grade. The first day of school was just two days before the disaster struck.
Goodman is not optimistic about when Mohamed might be able to get back to classes.
“It will depend on the government. There is no help now. I don’t know — it will take long time,” he said.
Most of the houses in the village are completely uninhabitable. Many have collapsed, and the ones that are still standing are dangerously unstable. Some of the buildings look like they have unfolded, with entire walls missing, exposing the remnants of the inside.
The villagers are staying away from the buildings, afraid they could crumble at any time. There is no water at the moment, as the pipes have been damaged.
We are just waiting. There’s nothing else we can do,” Goodman said.
From CNN’s Joseph Ataman in Paris
France will give €5 million ($5.3M) to local and international NGOs operating in Morocco to aid earthquake responses efforts, the French foreign minister said Monday in an interview with CNN affiliate BFMTV.
This comes after France was “among the first” to offer assistance to Morocco following the quake, but Rabat had not given an answer to the offer, she said, adding that Morocco has not refused the aid.
French president Emmanuel Macron has had “numerous exchanges” with King Mohammed VI of Morocco since the earthquake, but they have not spoken, she said.
The king was in France at the time of the earthquake but returned to his country on Saturday, the minister said.
Four French citizens were killed in the earthquake, with a further 15 injured, she confirmed, adding that there are “a few” French citizens that authorities are still trying to reach.
The king thanked Spain, Qatar, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates for sending aid, state-run broadcaster Al Aoula said Sunday.
Some context: While Spain said Sunday that Morocco had officially requested its aid — and that a plane of 56 Spanish rescue personnel had since arrived to help — it was not initially clear how many of the other international aid offers the Moroccan government has accepted.
The UN said on Friday that it had offered assistance on search and rescue, humanitarian and medical needs, but an official said at the time that Morocco was "deploying its own answer to the earthquake."
From CNN's Ivana Kottasová in Marrakech
A small mosque at the heart of the Marrakech medina in the city’s historical quarter was a treasured place of prayer for the hundreds of traders working at the busy market outside.
Now, it’s off-limits.
The mosque, located in the corner of the famous Jemaa el-Fna square, had a beautiful tower which — once adorned with white triangle decoration — has almost entirely collapsed in the powerful earthquake that struck the area on Friday night.
The beautiful building is barely recognizable now. The ornate tower is almost entirely gone – just one bare stump of bricks sticking out of the rubble.
Outside the damaged mosque, local resident Zined Hatimi recalled the terror of Friday night.
“People were inside praying and they started running out. Nobody was staying inside,” the 53-year-old told CNN. Like many others, she was too scared to go home.
The medina district, a UNESCO World Heritage site, dates back centuries and is enclosed by walls built of red sandstone. Once defending the city from danger, large parts of these walls have been damaged in the quake. Long sections are showing deep cracks and parts have crumbled.
Many of the old buildings inside the medina have been damaged and some have collapsed entirely. On Sunday morning, large piles of rubble were dotted around the area, with stray cats scouring them for food. Some sections of the city were cordoned off with fencing, as the old building could be at risk of collapse.
Away from the historical medina, in many of the modern parts of Marrakech, the impact was barely noticeable. Cafes and restaurants reopened Sunday morning, catering to tourists who decided to stay.
Meanwhile, the worst destruction has been in isolated areas of the nearby Atlas Mountains, where many communities are difficult to access. Residents have described whole villages suffering damage and rescuers unable to retrieve bodies from rubble.
Read the full story here:
From CNN staff
Emergency workers in Morocco are hurrying to locate survivors after a powerful earthquake ripped through the North African nation on Friday, killing thousands of people and destroying remote villages near the mountainous epicenter.
The quake hit at around 11:11 p.m. local time (6.11 p.m ET). Its epicenter was located in the High Atlas mountain range, about 72 kilometers (44.7 miles) southwest of Marrakech, a city of approximately 840,000 people. It is the strongest to hit Morocco's center in more than a century.
But its impact was felt as far north as Casablanca, as this map shows.
Here are the latest developments:
Here's how to help victims of the earthquake in Morocco.
The death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck Morocco on Friday has increased to at least 2,497 people, as of 10 a.m. local time (5 a.m. ET) on Monday, state media said.
Another 2,476 people have been injured.
The disaster killed 1,452 people in Al Houz region, 764 in Taroudant, 202 in Chichaoua, 41 in Ouarzazate, 18 in Marrakech, 11 in Azilal, five in Agadir, three in Casablanca province, and one person in Youssoufia province.
The Red Cross Society of China said it will send $200,000 in emergency humanitarian cash assistance to the Moroccan Red Crescent
The aid is to support rescue and relief work being carried out after the magnitude 6.8 quake that struck Morocco Friday, the Chinese Red Cross said in a Monday statement.
Leaders from other countries including Turkey, France, and the UAE have pledged to send donations, to bolster emergency operations in the wake of the disaster.
Ibrahim Goodman has lived in his village near the Moroccan town of Asni his whole life. He grew up here and now has three children.
That village, his home, is now mostly rubble. At least 20 people died there in Friday's devastating earthquake, authorities say.
The first aid — some tents, and food and water — arrived in the village on Sunday, some 36 hours after the earthquake hit late on Friday night.
But at least they got something, Goodman told CNN. “For now, we are OK,” he said.
There are villages further up where the help still can’t get to. The roads are blocked. They are clearing them now,” he said.
His 6-year-old son Mohamed has just started first grade. The first day of school was just two days before the disaster struck.
Goodman is not optimistic about when Mohamed might be able to get back to classes.
“It will depend on the government. There is no help now. I don’t know — it will take long time,” he said.
Most of the houses in the village are completely uninhabitable. Many have collapsed, and the ones that are still standing are dangerously unstable. Some of the buildings look like they have unfolded, with entire walls missing, exposing the remnants of the inside.
The villagers are staying away from the buildings, afraid they could crumble at any time. There is no water at the moment, as the pipes have been damaged.
We are just waiting. There’s nothing else we can do,” Goodman said.
France will give €5 million ($5.3M) to local and international NGOs operating in Morocco to aid earthquake responses efforts, the French foreign minister said Monday in an interview with CNN affiliate BFMTV.
This comes after France was “among the first” to offer assistance to Morocco following the quake, but Rabat had not given an answer to the offer, she said, adding that Morocco has not refused the aid.
French president Emmanuel Macron has had “numerous exchanges” with King Mohammed VI of Morocco since the earthquake, but they have not spoken, she said.
The king was in France at the time of the earthquake but returned to his country on Saturday, the minister said.
Four French citizens were killed in the earthquake, with a further 15 injured, she confirmed, adding that there are “a few” French citizens that authorities are still trying to reach.
The king thanked Spain, Qatar, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates for sending aid, state-run broadcaster Al Aoula said Sunday.
Some context: While Spain said Sunday that Morocco had officially requested its aid — and that a plane of 56 Spanish rescue personnel had since arrived to help — it was not initially clear how many of the other international aid offers the Moroccan government has accepted.
The UN said on Friday that it had offered assistance on search and rescue, humanitarian and medical needs, but an official said at the time that Morocco was "deploying its own answer to the earthquake."
A small mosque at the heart of the Marrakech medina in the city’s historical quarter was a treasured place of prayer for the hundreds of traders working at the busy market outside.
Now, it’s off-limits.
The mosque, located in the corner of the famous Jemaa el-Fna square, had a beautiful tower which — once adorned with white triangle decoration — has almost entirely collapsed in the powerful earthquake that struck the area on Friday night.
The beautiful building is barely recognizable now. The ornate tower is almost entirely gone – just one bare stump of bricks sticking out of the rubble.
Outside the damaged mosque, local resident Zined Hatimi recalled the terror of Friday night.
“People were inside praying and they started running out. Nobody was staying inside,” the 53-year-old told CNN. Like many others, she was too scared to go home.
The medina district, a UNESCO World Heritage site, dates back centuries and is enclosed by walls built of red sandstone. Once defending the city from danger, large parts of these walls have been damaged in the quake. Long sections are showing deep cracks and parts have crumbled.
Many of the old buildings inside the medina have been damaged and some have collapsed entirely. On Sunday morning, large piles of rubble were dotted around the area, with stray cats scouring them for food. Some sections of the city were cordoned off with fencing, as the old building could be at risk of collapse.
Away from the historical medina, in many of the modern parts of Marrakech, the impact was barely noticeable. Cafes and restaurants reopened Sunday morning, catering to tourists who decided to stay.
Meanwhile, the worst destruction has been in isolated areas of the nearby Atlas Mountains, where many communities are difficult to access. Residents have described whole villages suffering damage and rescuers unable to retrieve bodies from rubble.
Read the full story here:
Emergency workers in Morocco are hurrying to locate survivors after a powerful earthquake ripped through the North African nation on Friday, killing thousands of people and destroying remote villages near the mountainous epicenter.
The quake hit at around 11:11 p.m. local time (6.11 p.m ET). Its epicenter was located in the High Atlas mountain range, about 72 kilometers (44.7 miles) southwest of Marrakech, a city of approximately 840,000 people. It is the strongest to hit Morocco's center in more than a century.
But its impact was felt as far north as Casablanca, as this map shows.
Here are the latest developments:
Here's how to help victims of the earthquake in Morocco.
