People in Moroccan villages were very sad on Monday.
They had lost their family members and homes because of a big earthquake.
This was the deadliest earthquake in Morocco in more than 60 years, and it had already taken the lives of over 2,800 people.
Rescue teams were working hard to find anyone still alive.
Rescue teams from Spain, Britain, and Qatar came to help Morocco after a powerful earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.8, hit on Friday.
The earthquake happened in the High Atlas Mountains, about 72 kilometers (45 miles) southwest of Marrakech.
The latest report from the government’s TV said that 2,862 people had died, and 2,562 were injured.
The traditional houses made of mud bricks in this region made it harder to find survivors because they fell down easily during the earthquake.
One sad story is about a 7-year-old boy named Suleiman Aytnasr.
His mom had carried him to his bedroom after he fell asleep in the living room of their home.
They lived in a small village near Talat N’Yaaqoub, which was one of the places hit hardest by the earthquake.
Suleiman was excited about starting a new school year, but as his mom left his room, the earthquake struck.
The ceiling collapsed on him, and he didn’t survive.
His dad, Brahim Aytnasr, was very upset, and on Monday, he was trying to find anything salvageable from their damaged house.
“As she came back, the earthquake happened and the ceiling was destroyed and fell on him,” said Suleiman’s father, Brahim Aytnasr, whose eyes were red from crying
In another village called Tagadirte, almost all the buildings were destroyed.
A 66-year-old man named Mohamed Ouchen shared how they managed to save 25 people right after the earthquake.
One of those rescued was his sister.
They didn’t have any special tools, so they used their hands to dig people out of the rubble.
They kept digging until they saw the person’s head and then carefully pulled them out.
“We were busy rescuing because we didn’t have tools, we used our hands,” he said.
“Her head was visible and we kept digging by hand.”
There is a video from a village called Imi N’Tala where Spanish rescuer Antonio Nogales filmed the destruction.
It showed people and dogs trying to climb over steep hills filled with debris.
Nogales struggled to find the right words to describe the level of damage.
He said that not a single house was left standing.
However, he and his team were not giving up hope and believed they might still find people alive under the collapsed buildings.
“The level of destruction is … absolute,” said Nogales, struggling to find the right word to describe what he was seeing.
“Not a single house has stayed upright.”
“I am sure that in the coming days, there will be some rescues, we think that there may still be people in the collapsed structures, that there may have been pockets of air, and as I say, we never give up hope,” he said.
At first, the response to the earthquake was slow, and some survivors were not getting the help they needed.
But on Monday, it seemed like more help was arriving, and tents were being set up for people who had to spend nights outdoors.
A video from Moroccan outlet 2M showed a military helicopter dropping essential supplies to families in isolated areas.
It’s difficult to say how many people are missing because many of the affected areas are hard to reach.
Besides the loss of life, the earthquake also caused damage to important cultural sites, including buildings in the old city of Marrakech and the historic Tinmel Mosque.
In Tinmel, a remote village near the epicenter where 15 people died, residents were sharing food, water, and medicine, but they needed tents and blankets to stay warm in the cold mountain nights.
This earthquake is the deadliest in Morocco since 1960 when it is estimated to have killed at least 12,000 people.
It’s also the most powerful earthquake in Morocco since at least 1900, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The government said they are doing everything they can to help.
They are sending more search and rescue teams, providing water, food, tents, and blankets.
A major road that connects the High Atlas Mountains to Marrakech was filled with vehicles carrying supplies for the hardest-hit areas.
Moroccan volunteers, along with some foreigners, helped direct traffic and clear the road.
The Prime Minister, Aziz Akhannouch, said the government would provide compensation to the victims, but there aren’t many details available yet.
Despite the tragedy, Morocco is planning to go ahead with the International Monetary Fund-World Bank meetings scheduled for next month in Marrakech.
Morocco has accepted help from Spain and Britain, who sent search-and-rescue teams with sniffer dogs, as well as from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
The government is also considering offers of aid from other countries.
