Rescuers in Morocco intensified their search for survivors of a deadly earthquake that killed more than 2,100 people and levelled villages on Sunday by using heavy machinery and even just their bare hands.
According to official numbers revised late on Sunday, the largest earthquake to ever hit the country of North Africa resulted in at least 2,122 fatalities and more over 2,400 injuries, many of them critically, prompting the first foreign rescuers to fly in to assist.
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The 6.8-magnitude earthquake that occurred on Friday destroyed entire towns in the Atlas mountain hills, which were located 72 kilometres (45 miles) southwest of Marrakesh, a popular tourist destination.
A magnitude 4.5 aftershock that occurred on Sunday shook the same area’s terrified residents.
Almost all of the structures in the mountain village of Tafeghaghte, 60 kilometres from Marrakech, were destroyed, according to an AFP team.
Rescuers from the local community and Moroccan military personnel combed through the rubble in search of the dead and survivors.
