Race against time and rubble for UK team trying to save Morocco quake victims
British rescuers are in a race against time in Morocco, working in remote villages devastated by the earthquake that killed almost 3,000 people.
Members of UK International Search and Rescue are scouring huge piles of rubble high in the Atlas Mountains, in the desperate hope that some buried in the disaster may still be alive.
And UK MED – a team of medics – is waiting for the green light to set up field clinics so that it can provide urgently needed treatment after the local health system collapsed.
We watched the ISAR team working in Imi N’Isli, where 15 people died when their homes collapsed in the 6.8-magnitude quake.
Fifteen people died in the village of Imi N’Isli (Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)Simon Forster, of Hampshire Fire and Rescue, said: “Our primary objective is saving lives, to identify and rescue casualties, look for survivors.
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“We have also been treating the walking wounded. We treated five people today.”
His team saved a donkey, too, which was trapped in the rubble for a week.
Simon said: “The village elders asked for our help. Local people were putting themselves at risk trying to reach it.
“The walls could have come down on them.”
The donkey belongs to farmer Mohammed Oumassoud, 78, and was his only animal to survive the disaster. Remembering the moment the earthquake hit, at about 11pm on September 8, he said: “I was feeding my animals when it happened. I clung to the doorframe. I was terrified. I lost all my animals except one. My friends and neighbours, they died. We have found the bodies and they have been buried.”
Villagers cheered when the team led Mohammed’s donkey to safety.
Linda Edwards, chief executive of The Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad, explained how important the rescue was.
She said: “For many, these animals are their livelihood. There are communities in the mountains that are only accessible by donkey and mules.”
In Tafeggaght, another devastated village, 160 died. Most have been buried but a smell of death in the air suggests there are more to be found.
Shellshocked Murat, of Agadir, was visiting his family when the quake hit – and killed 11 of his loved ones.
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“He said: “It was over in about 20 seconds. I got my mum and managed to get out. But we lost many persons.”
Tom Godfrey and his UK MED team want to set up three mountain clinics and be working within days. He said: “We’re here to support the traumatised victims, to help those with primary health care needs.”
Almost 3,000 people were killed in the earthquake (Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)Tom, travelling with David Anderson and Rocco Massad, said most with serious injuries have been transferred to city hospitals but there are still some areas that have not been reached.
He added: “Land Rover has kindly given us free vehicles to use, so we can travel from village to village, head to really harsh areas.”
In Imi N’Tala, 96 died when most of the village was shaken off the side of the mountain. Qatari and Spanish rescue teams fear 10 bodies may still be under the rubble.
But roads blocked by debris are stopping heavy lifting machinery from getting there – so the rescuers are sifting through it by hand.
Tents line the roads where survivors try to sleep at night but they fear aftershocks and worry about the future.
Villager Heffani, said: “There is a lot of help. But we need somewhere to live. The winter will be very hard.”
According to latest figures, 2,946 people died and 5,674 were injured in the quake. But Morocco has so far accepted only a limited amount of aid, with just the UK, Spain, Qatar and the UAE on the ground in the country.
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