Morocco earthquake: race to find survivors as death toll nears 3,000

Shafaq News/ Rescuers are racing the clock to find survivors in the rubble more than 48 hours after Morocco's deadliest earthquake in more than six decades.

Some 2,901 have people have been killed in a disaster that devastated villages in the High Atlas Mountains. More than 5,000 are still missing.

Aftershocks will continue to rock Morocco weeks or months, a seismological expert has warned. Remy Mossu, the director of the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, told Sky News that more than 25 aftershocks have already hit the country since the 6.8 magnitude earthquake.

“There will be aftershocks. It is not probably, it is a certainty,” he said.

Some villagers say they are struggling to find enough space to bury their dead as funerals can take place beside rescue work. Others are preparing extra graves ready for more bodies, even as rescue operations continue.

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has thanked Spain, Qatar, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates for sending aid, with the UK government set to send 60 search and rescue specialists and four search dogs to Morocco.

The damage from the quake could take several years to repair, according to the Red Cross.