- Title: MOROCCO: RESCUE WORK CONTINUES AFTER EARTHQUAKE
- Date: 25th February 2004
- Summary: (U4) IM-ZOUREN, MOROCCO (FEBRUARY 25, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. WIDE OF MAN WITH WATER BARREL WALKING IN FRONT OF RUBBLE FROM EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE 0.05 2. PULLOUT OF MEN STANDING BY COLLAPSED HOUSES 0.14 3. VARIOUS OF COLLAPSED HOUSES (3 SHOTS) 0.25 4. SLV CROWDS IN FRONT OF PILE OF RUBBLE WHERE SURVIVORS ARE BELIEVED TO BE BURIED 0.32 5. WIDE OF CROWD LOOKING AT RESCUE WORKERS AT SITE 0.37 6. SLV RED CRESCENT WORKERS AND CIVIL PROTECTION UNIT WORKING WITH MECHANICAL DIGGER MOVING RUBBLE TRYING TO FIND MAN BELIEVED TO BE TRAPPED IN COLLAPSED BUILDING 0.44 7. SLV PEOPLE WATCHING RESCUE 0.48 8. VARIOUS OF THE RESCUE TEAMS WORKING (3 shots) 1.07 9. SLV RESCUE WORKER THROWING AWAY MATTRESS 1.13 10. PAN RESCUE WORKERS THROWING STONES/ WORKERS CLEARING DEBRIS 1.29 11. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (French) MEMBER OF RED CRESCENT, IBDAL, SAYING " (SOUNDBITE) (French) MEMBER OF RED CRESCENT, IBDAL, SAYING "This morning, at 6.00 o'clock we were told, we felt another tremor, another tremor. We came here to see what was going on. We found out there was a man in this building" (POINTS AT THE RUBBLE WHERE RESCUE WORKERS ARE) 1.45 12. WIDE /PAN OF WORKERS CLEARING RUBBLE WITH BULLDOZER 1.52 13. VARIOUS OF RESCUE WORKERS LEAVING 2.04 (U4) AIRPORT OF AL-HOMENIA, MOROCCO (FEBRUARY 25, 2004) (REUTERS) 14. SLV AID WORKERS FROM LUXEMBOURG, ABOUT TWENTY PERSONNEL WITH FIVE SNIFFER DOGS AT THE AIRPORT 2.07 15. SLV LUXEMBOURG RESCUE WORKERS AND THEIR DOGS STANDING AROUND RED AID BOXES AND TOOLS 2.12 16. VARIOUS OF ROYAL ARMY OF MOROCCO TAKING EQUIPMENT OFF PLANE TO BUILD A 60 BED HOSPITAL 2.20 17. VARIOUS OF MILITARY OFFLOADING EQUIPMENT FROM PLANE 2.33 (U4) DOUAR, SMALL TOWN 20 KM FROM AL HOCEIMA, MOROCCO (FEBRUARY 25, 2004) (REUTERS) 18. SLV MAN WALKING PAST COLLAPSED HOMES (23 PEOPLE WERE KILLED DURING EARTHQUAKE) 2.40 19. VARIOUS OF TELEVISION ON THE FLOOR AND MOHAMMED, RESIDENT, WALKING THROUGH RUBBLE 2.49 20. SLV HAMMED WALKING ON RUBBLE WHICH USED TO BE HIS HOME. HIS PARENTS AND SISTER WERE KILLED DURING THE EARTHQUAKE WHILE SLEEPING IN THE HOUSE 3,02 21. WIDE OF RUBBLE AND CACTUS 3.06 22. VARIOUS OF RUBBLE 3.08 23. CLOSE OF DEAD DONKEY TRAPPED IN RUBBLE 3.12 24. VARIOUS OF MOHAMMED HUGGING RELATIVES IN THE CEMETERY WHO ARE DIGGING A HOLE TO BURY FAMILY MEMBERS 3.22 25. VARIOUS OF GRAVES BEING DUG 3.29 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 11th March 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: AL HOCEIMA, IM-ZOUREN AND DOUAR, MOROCCO
- Country: Morocco
- Reuters ID: LVA8JKVTQA4S5SAEFXAZV7V9Q6RG
- Story Text: Update on rescue efforts in Morocco after earthquake.
Thousands of homeless Moroccans struggled to rebuild
their shattered lives on Wednesday (February 25, 2004) after a
powerful earthquake forced survivors to spend the night in
the open.
The health ministry said the death toll from Morocco's
worst natural disaster in more than 40 years rose to at
least 564.
Authorities feared the death toll could climb because
of aftershocks and poor rescue equipment.
Dozens of aftershocks have rippled across the poor
mountainous region and rattled nerves. Search-and-rescue
are still arriving in hamlets far up the Rif mountains.
In the village of Im-Zouren, 18 km (11 miles) to the
south, houses either collapsed or were flattened. Survivors
were bitter.
Many people spent the night in the open or under
sheeting and other makeshift shelters because their homes
were destroyed.
Most were home asleep when the quake, measuring 6.5 on
the Richter scale, struck early on Tuesday (February 24) in
an area of between 300,000 and 400,000 people.
The Red Crescent said they were searching for a man
believed to be buried in the rubble from a tremor they felt
early on Wednesday morning.
"This morning at 6.00 o'clock we were told, we felt
another tremor, another tremor. We came here to see what
was going on. We found out there was a man in this
building," Red Crescent aid worker Ibdal said.
But hopes of finding any more people alive in the
rubble of mud-brick homes in the villages around Al Hoceima
are dimming already.
Local help is stretched and badly equipped. Some
villagers were digging with their bare hands or shovels to
search for survivors.
The authorities have called for heavy equipment,
snigger dogs and field hospitals.
Rescue workers from Luxembourg arrived in the port city
of Al Hoceima on Wednesday, but angry homeless survivors
are angry the government have not provided more help.
About 600 people blocked a main road to protest at the
lack of government aid on Wednesday by sitting on a road
linking Al Hoceima to the interior.
Former colonial power France was among the first
countries to pledge aid, including rescue workers with
sniffer dogs and clearance equipment.
Algeria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal,
Spain and the United States also offered humanitarian help.
Morocco's Royal Army was unloading supplies from the
Luxembourg plane which will enable them to build a 60-bed
field hospital.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies (IFRC) launched an appeal for 2.8
million Swiss francs (2.25 million US dollars) to provide
supplies including 1,500 tents, 30,000 blankets, 15,000
mattresses, as well as heaters and food.
But the aid will come too late for 23 villagers living
in the small hamlet of Douar, 20km from Al Hoceima.
One resident, Mohammed, toured amongst the rubble that
once was his home. There is nothing left, not even
memories.
His parents and his sister were asleep when the quake
hit. They all died when the house collapsed on their heads.
The remains of a donkey could be seen under a pile of
brick, crushed by the building that once protected it.
Relatives were left to bury their dead in a nearby
field.
North Africa's last major earthquake hit neighbouring
Algeria last May. It measured 6.8 on the Richter scale and
killed 2,300 people near the capital Algiers.
Morocco suffered its worst recorded quake in 1960. It
destroyed the Atlantic city of Agadir, killing 12,000 people.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
