Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
RABAT, SANA— A powerful earthquake struck Morocco late Friday night, killing hundreds of people and damaging buildings from villages in the Atlas Mountains to the historic city of Marrakech.
Morocco’s Interior Ministry said early Saturday that at least 296 people had died in the provinces near the quake. Additionally, nearly 330 injured, among them 51 in a critical condition, people were sent to hospitals for treatment. The ministry wrote that most damage occurred outside of cities and towns.
Agencies said Moroccan television showed scenes from the aftermath, as many stayed outside fearing aftershocks.
Anxious families stood in streets or huddled on the pavement, some carrying children, blankets or other belongings. Emergency workers climbed over heaps of stones, the remains of crumbled walls. A car was nearly buried by the chunks of a collapsed building.
Baskets, buckets and clothing could be seen amid scattered stones in the remains of one building.
In the immediate aftermath of the quake, images shared online showed people running and screaming near the 12th century Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech, one of the city’s most famed landmarks. Moroccan media reported that the mosque suffered damage, but the extent was not immediately clear. Its 69-meter (226-foot) minaret is known as the “roof of Marrakech.”
Moroccans also posted videos showing parts of the famous red walls that surround the old city in Marrakech, a UNESCO World Heritage site, damaged.
Fedaa al-Rhayiah/ Mazen Eyon
