Morocco earthquake: Hope is fading in Talat Nyakoub where the stench of dead bodies is ‘overpowering’
The large rotary blades of a military helicopter fire up, lifting emergency supplies towards villages otherwise cut off from the world.
They’re also shuttling the injured and dead away from the epicentre.
An enormous cloud of dust engulfs dozens of survivors and emergency teams who have descended on the town of Talat Nyakoub, at the epicentre of the earthquake to dig for the living and recover the dead.
CCTV shows moment earthquake struck – latest updates
Women waiting for news of relatives
There is hope that loved ones didn’t die when the quake hit the Atlas Mountains here in Morocco, but the smell of dead bodies is at times overpowering and the grim faces of rescue workers speak volumes.
Dozens, sometimes hundreds, of people gather at a newly-formed road created when the street below disintegrated.
Beneath them, groups of rescue workers operating in teams of between six and 12 dig their way through the rubble.
There is little chatter, the sounds of drills and pickaxes fill the air. The occasional sound of somebody wailing punctuates the near silence. A sad indicator that another body has been found.
This is a desperate race to save lives but as each hour passes here, hope fades.
Rescue workers say finding survivors is difficult, not only because of the heat, but because of the amount of time that has passed since the earthquake struck – and the severity of that impact.
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Moment deadly earthquake struck Marrakech
A military helicopter in the earthquake zone
Whole streets have been utterly destroyed in what survivors say was more like an enormous explosion rather than the shaking of an earthquake.
They described how the ground and buildings blew upwards from the earth before collapsing. Multi-storey buildings are now pancaked.
Air Said Mohamed says he rescued more than a dozen people before rescue workers got here.
“Sometimes you find someone alive, sometimes not, they have already died,” he said. “But there is hope, I rescued three people here and 10 in the other village above.”
In the blistering heat, rescuers dig through the rubble looking for survivors, but in all honesty, they’re expecting to find the dead.
While we filmed, we saw many dead – but we saw no survivors.
When a body is found, it is extracted from the rubble, wrapped in a blanket and placed on an orange stretcher.
Rescue workers searching rubble in Talat Nyakoub
Recovery teams then take the body to a dusty car park that has become the main gathering point for the relief effort.
They’re usually followed by the family, almost all in tears.
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We watched as the body of 18-year-old Heba was recovered and placed on the ground in the car park.
She was only visiting her family here – Heba was a student living in Marrakech.
The family of 18-year-old Heba
Rescue workers in the Atlas Mountains
Her family survived, she did not. Her mother and father cried and hugged, while their relatives tried to support them. They were inconsolable.
You see this scene time and again at the epicentre.
I met Fatima standing on the ridge watching relief efforts. She has lost 10 members of her family already and told me others are still missing.
“The rescue workers are doing a really good job but look at everything they have to dig through – concrete, sand rocks… it’s very difficult,” she said.
She has given up hope of anyone still being alive.
“Within seconds everything fell down, some people managed to run out of their houses, others didn’t make it,” she said.
The family of 18-year-old Heba
Although most of the rescue work is done by hand, the teams occasionally use drills powered by generators to break through the exposed floors and ceilings of the buildings – it’s hard to differentiate between the two.
Youssef Id Mesouad was here when the body of his mother was removed from the family home.
He’s returned with his uncle and cousins to wait for the relief teams to find the body of his father.
He stands with them on top of the house, now a pile of rubble, gesturing and explaining the layout of the house.
Youssef has lost both of his parents
Survivors watching rescue efforts in Talat Nyakoub
Youssef knows there is no hope left for his father. He told me his mother’s body was found near the ceiling of the house, not underneath it.
Throughout the day the bodies of the newly recovered were laid in a row in the car park. Their families sitting beside them, waiting to take them away.
Youssef knows his father will be one of them, he’s just waiting for him to be found.
World
European leaders to meet in Ukraine for ‘coalition of the willing’ talks – and issue call to Russia
Sir Keir Starmer will join other European leaders in Kyiv on Saturday for talks on the “coalition of the willing”.
The prime minister is attending the event alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, recently-elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
It will be the first time the leaders of the four countries will travel to Ukraine at the same time – on board a train to Kyiv – with their meeting hosted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Follow latest updates on the Ukraine war
Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz travelling in the saloon car of a special train to Kiev. Pic: Reuters
Military officers from around 30 countries have been involved in drawing up plans for the coalition, which would provide a peacekeeping force in the event of a ceasefire being agreed between Russia and Ukraine.
Ahead of the meeting on Saturday, Sir Keir, Mr Macron, Mr Tusk and Mr Merz released a joint statement voicing support for Ukraine and calling on Russia to agree to a 30-day ceasefire.
Sir Keir and Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting in March. Pic: AP
“We reiterate our backing for President Trump’s calls for a peace deal and call on Russia to stop obstructing efforts to secure an enduring peace,” they said.
“Alongside the US, we call on Russia to agree a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire to create the space for talks on a just and lasting peace.”
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Putin’s Victory Day parade explained
The leaders said they were “ready to support peace talks as soon as possible”.
But they warned that they would continue to “ratchet up pressure on Russia’s war machine” until Moscow agrees to a lasting ceasefire.
“We are clear the bloodshed must end, Russia must stop its illegal invasion, and Ukraine must be able to prosper as a safe, secure and sovereign nation within its internationally recognised borders for generations to come,” their statement added.
“We will continue to increase our support for Ukraine.”
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The European leaders are set to visit the Maidan, a central square in Ukraine’s capital where flags represent those who died in the war.
They are also expected to host a virtual meeting for other leaders in the “coalition of the willing” to update them on progress towards a peacekeeping force.
This force “would help regenerate Ukraine’s armed forces after any peace deal and strengthen confidence in any future peace”, according to Number 10.
World
Ten explosions near international airport in India-administered part of Kashmir, officials say
Ten explosions have been heard near Srinagar International Airport in India-administered parts of Kashmir, officials have told Reuters news agency.
The blasts followed blackouts caused by multiple projectiles, which were seen in the sky above the city of Jammu earlier on Friday.
Explosions were also heard in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, in the neighbouring Punjab state, according to Reuters.
An Indian military official told the agency that “drones have been sighted” and “they are being engaged”.
It comes as tensions between India and Pakistan across the line of control around the region of Kashmir have boiled over this week, leading to fears of a wider conflict.
On Wednesday morning, India carried out missile strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered parts of the disputed region.
The retaliation came weeks after 26 people, mainly Indian tourists, were shot dead by gunmen in an India-administered part of Kashmir last month.
The government in India said it hit nine “terrorist infrastructure” sites, while Pakistan said it was not involved in the April attack and the sites were not militant bases.
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Explained: India-Pakistan conflict
Around 48 people have been killed since Wednesday, according to casualty estimates on both sides – which have not been independently verified.
India also suspended its top cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League, as a result of rising tensions, while the Pakistan Super League moved the remainder of its season to the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a conference on Friday that the US is in constant contact with both India and Pakistan.
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Conclaves are famously unpredictable affairs – and once again the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the new pope caught many by surprise.
The newly elected Pope Leo XIV won the consensus of the 133 cardinal electors after only four ballots – a fast process for a diverse college of cardinals.
Though his name had circulated among some Vatican watchers, other cardinals had emerged as clear front-runners, including Pietro Parolin – the Vatican’s number two who would have been the first Italian in almost 50 years to become pontiff – or Luis Tagle, a Filipino cardinal looking to become the first Asian pope.
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What are the conclave’s secrecy measures?
Instead, it was the first North American to win the highly secretive process.
So, what went on behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel?
Until Thursday lunchtime, Cardinal Parolin was ahead, gathering between 45 and 55 votes, sources say.
A substantial number, but well short of the 89 votes he needed for a two-thirds majority.
At this point, Cardinal Prevost had between 34 and 44 votes.
But as the Italian struggled to grow his support during the first three rounds of voting, he stepped down from the race, endorsing Prevost instead, Sky News understands.
Read more:
Who is Pope Leo XIV?
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Who is Pope Leo?
An internal battle between Luis Tagle and Pablo Virgilio David – both cardinals hailing from Asia – cancelled out both of their chances.
And a contender from Africa – the most conservative sector of the church – was never likely for a conclave where the overwhelming majority of cardinals had been appointed by Francis, a progressive pontiff, sources say.
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Moment new pope emerges on balcony
An American pope has long been seen as highly improbable, given the geopolitical power of the US.
But Cardinal Prevost was able to draw from across the groups making up the electors: moderate US cardinals, South American cardinals and many European cardinals all coalesced around him.
Italian newspaper La Repubblica said Prevost “certainly attracted cross-party preferences, both ideologically and geographically”.
“In the conclave he was the least American of Americans: Born in Chicago, he lived 20 years in Peru,” the newspaper said.
It added: “As a man used to teamwork, Prevost appeared to many as the right man to make the papacy evolve into a more collegial form.”
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