Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
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Marrakech (Agenzia Fides) - Ten days after the earthquake that devastated the province of Al Haouz, southwest of Marrakech, there are villages in the mountainous areas that have been completely razed to the ground.
The survivors, who have lost everything, live in the open and wait for help to arrive. The Franciscan monk Manuel Corullon, parish priest in charge of the parish of the Holy Martyrs in Marrakech, tells Fides that, together with the small Christian community in the affected areas, he continues to provide assistance and to provide people with basic necessities of everyday life, such as tents sets up and intervenes as far as possible where help is urgently needed. The community center and the Church of the Holy Martyrs were not damaged. Despite the devastation and tragedy, the population is trying to return to normality. The school year is scheduled to begin today, September 18th, in all areas affected by the earthquake. Meanwhile, rescue and search operations continue. According to official figures, there are at least 3,000 dead and 6,125 injured. The last of those rescued were identified last Saturday, September 16, thanks to the use of drones equipped with video cameras in a mountainous area affected by a landslide. Local sources also report that in the last few days only bodies have been pulled out from under the rubble. In some mountain villages, help arrived only two days ago after the destroyed roads were reopened. According to doctors at the hospital in Taroudant, south of Marrakech, 130 injured people arrive every day from the earthquake-damaged mountainous regions. The Ministry of the Interior reported that 50,000 houses had completely collapsed and the same number were damaged. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 18/9/2023)
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