Morocco earthquake survivors sleep rough as rescuers battle to save people trapped in remote areas
Thousands of people who survived the Morocco earthquake have spent the night sleeping rough – with many losing their homes or too fearful to head indoors.
At least 2,012 people have died following the powerful 6.8 magnitude tremor on Friday night, and 1,404 others are critically injured.
These numbers are only expected to rise as search and rescue crews battle to access hard-to-reach mountainous areas that have lost electricity and mobile phone reception.
Morocco earthquake – latest updates
Bereaved families have been burying their loved ones, and some of those who lost everything in the earthquake lack the financial means to rebuild.
The World Health Organisation says more than 300,000 people are living in the hardest-hit areas, and experts have warned the next 48 hours will be “critical” for saving lives.
Caroline Holt, from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said safe drinking water is urgently needed to prevent “a disaster within a disaster”.
The humanitarian organisation has warned it could take months, if not years, for Morocco to recover.
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Quake damages Marrakech landmarks
World leaders offer aid
The president of Turkey, which lost tens of thousands of people in a devastating earthquake earlier this year, is among those offering to send aid and rescue crews.
France and Germany, which are both home to a large population of people with Moroccan origin, have also said they are prepared to step up.
And in an exceptional move, neighbouring Algeria – which severed diplomatic ties with Morocco in 2021 – offered to open its airspace for humanitarian aid and medical evacuations.
The epicentre of the earthquake is in the High Atlas mountains, about 50 miles south of Marrakech
The British Red Cross has launched an emergency fundraising appeal, amid fears that “the full scale of the destruction is only likely to become apparent in the coming days”.
Despite the outpouring of offers, the Moroccan government is yet to formally ask for assistance – a crucial step before international rescue crews can head to the scene.
Sky’s Europe correspondent Adam Parsons said a team from the Netherlands was already waiting at an airport in Amsterdam for permission to travel.
In the meantime, the Moroccan armed forces have begun deploying rescue teams to distribute clean drinking water, food, tents and blankets.
‘It felt like a bomb went off’
Whole communities have been covered in debris and neighbours are working together to reach those who are trapped, some picking through rubble with their bare hands.
Near the epicentre, fallen masonry is blocking narrow streets – and in remote areas, food is in short supply because roofs collapsed on kitchens.
Some of those who survived fear they have little future to look forward to.
Pic: AP
Hamid Idsalah, a 72-year-old mountain guide, said: “I can’t reconstruct my home. I don’t know what I’ll do. Still, I’m alive, so I’ll wait. I feel heartsick.”
There have also been stories from those who are lucky to be alive.
Mohamed Azaw said: “When I felt the earth shaking beneath my feet and the house leaning, I rushed to get my kids out – but my neighbours couldn’t.
“Unfortunately no one was found alive in that family. The father and son were found dead and they are still looking for the mother and the daughter.”
Read more:
Morocco’s deadly earthquake – in pictures
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‘Once in a lifetime’ earthquake
Three days of national mourning
This is the deadliest earthquake to hit Morocco since 1960, when a 5.8 magnitude tremor killed at least 12,000 people.
While construction laws were changed in cities after that disaster, many rural homes are made from mud brick, stone and rough wood.
Professor Bill McGuire from University College London said: “The problem is that where destructive earthquakes are rare, buildings are simply not constructed robustly enough to cope with strong ground shaking, so many collapse, resulting in high casualties.”
Morocco has now declared three days of national mourning – with King Mohammed VI ordering the armed forces to mobilise specialised search and rescue teams, as well as a surgical field hospital.
US president-elect Donald Trump has suggested Israel and Hamas could agree a Gaza ceasefire by the end of the week.
Talks between Israeli and Hamas representatives resumed in the Qatari capital Doha yesterday, after US President Joe Biden indicated a deal to stop the fighting was “on the brink” on Monday.
A draft agreement has been sent to both sides. It includes provisions for the release of hostages and a phased Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza.
Qatar says Israel and Hamas are at their “closest point” yet to a ceasefire deal.
Two Hamas officials said the group has accepted the draft agreement, with Israel still considering the deal.
An Israeli official said a deal is close but “we are not there” yet.
More than 46,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its ground offensive in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Read more:
What’s in the proposed deal?
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on beachfront cafe in Deir al Balah. Pic: Reuters
Biden hails possibility of agreement
President Biden said it would include a hostage release deal and a “surge” of aid to Palestinians, in his final foreign policy speech as president.
“So many innocent people have been killed, so many communities have been destroyed. Palestinian people deserve peace,” he said.
“The deal would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel, and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started.”
Qatari mediators have sent Israel and Hamas a draft proposal for an agreement to halt the fighting.
Analysis:
Deal might be close, but there are many unanswered questions
Pic: Reuters
Trump: ‘We’re very close’
President-elect Donald Trump has also discussed a possible peace deal during a phone interview with the Newsmax channel.
“We’re very close to getting it done and they have to get it done,” he said.
“If they don’t get it done, there’s going to be a lot of trouble out there, a lot of trouble, like they have never seen before.
“And they will get it done. And I understand there’s been a handshake and they’re getting it finished and maybe by the end of the week. But it has to take place, it has to take place.”
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Pic: AP
Israeli official: Former Hamas leader held up deal
Speaking on Tuesday as negotiations resumed in Qatar, an anonymous Israeli official said that an agreement was “close, but we are not there”.
They accused Hamas of previously “dictating, not negotiating” but said this has changed in the last few weeks.
“Yahya Sinwar was the main obstacle for a deal,” they added.
Sinwar, believed to be the mastermind of the 7 October attacks, led Hamas following the assassination of his predecessor but was himself killed in October last year.
Under Sinwar, the Israeli official claimed, Hamas was “not in a rush” to bring a hostage deal but this has changed since his death and since the IDF “started to dismantle the Shia axis”.
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Biden: ‘Never, never, never, ever give up’
Iran ‘weaker than it’s been in decades’
Yesterday, President Biden also hailed Washington’s support for Israel during two Iranian attacks in 2024.
“All told, Iran is weaker than it’s been in decades,” the president said.
Mr Biden claimed America’s adversaries were weaker than when he took office four years ago and that the US was “winning the worldwide competition”.
“Compared to four years ago, America is stronger, our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are
weaker,” he said.
“We have not gone to war to make these things happen.”
The US president is expected to give a farewell address on Wednesday.
A draft ceasefire deal on the table between Israel and Hamas would see 33 hostages set free and a phased withdrawal of IDF forces from parts of Gaza.
President Joe Biden said an agreement to stop the fighting was “on the brink” and high level negotiations between the two sides resumed in Qatar on Tuesday.
The deal would see a number of things happen in a first stage, with negotiations for the second stage beginning in the third week of the ceasefire.
It would also allow a surge in humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has been devastated by more than a year of war.
Details of what the draft proposal entails have been emerging on Tuesday, reported by Israeli and Palestinian officials.
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages hold photos of their loved ones during a protest on 8 January. Pic: AP
Hostages to be returned
In the first stage of the potential ceasefire, 33 hostages would be set free.
These include women (including female soldiers), children, men over the age of 50, wounded and sick.
Israel believes most of these hostages are alive but there has not been any official confirmation from Hamas.
In return for the release of the hostages, Israel would free more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
People serving long sentences for deadly attacks would be included in this but Hamas fighters who took part in the 7 October attack would not be released.
An arrangement to prevent Palestinian “terrorists” from going back to the West Bank would be included in the deal, an anonymous Israeli official said.
Read more:
A timeline of events since the 7 October attacks
The hostages who still haven’t returned home
Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in Beit Hanoun in Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza
The agreement also includes a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, with IDF troops remaining in the border perimeter to defend Israeli border towns and villages.
Security arrangements would be implemented at the Philadelphi corridor – a narrow strip of land that runs along the border between Egypt and Gaza – with Israel withdrawing from parts of it after the first few days of the deal.
The Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza would start to work gradually to allow the crossing of people who are sick and other humanitarian cases out of Gaza for treatment.
Unarmed North Gaza residents would be allowed to return to their homes, with a mechanism introduced to ensure no weapons are moved there.
“We will not leave the Gaza Strip until all our hostages are back home,” the Israeli official said.
What will happen to Gaza in the future?
There is less detail about the future of Gaza – from how it will be governed, to any guarantees that this agreement will bring a permanent end to the war.
“The only thing that can answer for now is that we are ready for a ceasefire,” the Israeli official said.
“This is a long ceasefire and the deal that is being discussed right now is for a long one. There is a big price for releasing the hostages and we are ready to pay this price.”
The international community has said Gaza must be run by Palestinians, but there has not been a consensus about how this should be done – and the draft ceasefire agreement does not seem to address this either.
In the past, Israel has said it will not end the war leaving Hamas in power. It also previously rejected the possibility of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited governing powers in the West Bank, from taking over the administration of Gaza.
Since the beginning of its military campaign in Gaza, Israel has also said it would retain security control over the territory after the fighting ends.
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