Rescue efforts continue in Morocco after deadly earthquake

RABAT, Morocco

Rescue teams in Morocco continued their efforts on Sunday to search for survivors following the Sept. 8 earthquake that killed thousands in the North African country.

Rescuers managed to save five shepherds trapped in a mountainous area in northern Morocco on Saturday, according to local media.

Rescue efforts, however, still encounter some difficult terrain in the affected provinces due to the presence of high mountains, according to an Anadolu reporter.

In the mountainous Asni town in the central Al-Haouz province, a weekly market was held despite the destruction caused by the quake in an effort to provide the needed supplies for locals.

A blood donation campaign was also launched in Amizmiz town, 55 kilometers south of Marrakech, to provide help for people affected by the quake.

Some 3,000 people were killed and 6,125 injured when a magnitude 7 earthquake struck central Morocco, southwest of Marrakech on Sept. 8, according to official figures.

At least 50,000 houses have collapsed completely or partially by the quake.

Last Sunday, the Moroccan government set up special bank accounts to collect donations from the public to provide aid to quake survivors.

The Moroccan government decided that the ministers would contribute one month's salary in support of the earthquake victims.

The quake was the strongest to hit the North African country in a century, according to Morocco’s National Geophysical Institute.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar