A day in the ruins of Morocco’s earthquake - podcast

1 year ago 26
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On Friday night, Morocco’s High Atlas mountains were hit by a 6.8 magnitude earthquake and tremors were felt in several areas across the country from Marrakech to Casablanca. Since then, the death toll has passed 2,800 people.

Peter Beaumont, the Guardian’s senior international reporter, tells Michael Safi about his time reporting in the villages of the High Atlas mountains. Peter meets the communities who have been left without support since the earthquake.

“Everything they’ve done, they’ve done for themselves,” he says. “They’ve dug out their survivors and they’ve dug out their dead.”

Ibtissam Bouseta was in Marrakech when the earthquake occurred. She works for the Moroccan biodiversity and livelihoods Association, who are helping with the relief effort. She tells Michael how difficult it is to reach some of the impacted communities, and why they are desperately in need of shelter and more support.

A woman walks past destroyed houses after an earthquake in the mountain village of Tafeghaghte, southwest of the city of Marrakesh, on September 9, 2023. Morocco's deadliest earthquake in decades has killed more than 2,000 people, authorities said on September 9, as troops and emergency services scrambled to reach remote mountain villages where casualties are still feared trapped. (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP) (Photo by FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images)
Photograph: Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images

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