Following the devastating earthquake in Morocco, the number of confirmed deaths has reached 2,901. As confirmed on Tuesday afternoon by the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior, 5,530 injuries have been recorded so far.

Most of the dead are already buried. On the fourth day after the serious earthquake, the hope of finding survivors under the rubble is increasingly diminishing. Dozens of villages were destroyed, the Moroccan news site “Hespress” reported. Not only do residents have to recover and bury the dead, but there is also a lack of food and water.

In hard-to-reach areas of the Moroccan earthquake, emergency services are working to the brink of exhaustion in the desperate search for survivors. They have to pick their way through rubble and piles of rubble in extreme heat, sometimes with their bare hands. But the hope of finding people still alive on the fourth day after Friday afternoon’s severe earthquake dwindles by the hour.

Increased risk of disease

The head of operations for a British aid group warned on the BBC of a growing risk of disease if aid was delayed further. Meanwhile, emergency services were still trying to penetrate remote mountain villages. Heavy equipment, such as excavators, had to be used to clear debris from roads in the rugged terrain so ambulances could pass after the landslides.

Given this desperate situation in the disaster zones, the Moroccan government is under increasing pressure to accept more international aid. Germany also once again offered its support to the North African country. However, so far the Rabat government has not shown any interest in it. However, Morocco thanked us for the offer, said a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

More aftershocks expected

So far, Morocco has only accepted aid from four countries: Spain, Britain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The country’s officials justified this by saying that, in their opinion, it would be too chaotic if teams from all over the world suddenly arrived in Morocco.

Authorities have set up field hospitals near the epicenter to care for the wounded, Justice Minister Abdel Latif Wehbe told Arab television network Al-Arabiya. On Monday, military helicopters dropped aid packages over hard-to-reach mountainous regions.

In addition to humanitarian aid, the population now mainly needs psychological support, explained the humanitarian organization Care: “In addition to the enormous physical devastation, the emotional damage caused by the horror experienced and the fear suffered is very serious,” explained Hlima Razkaoui. Secretary General of Care Morocco, in a report.

Unicef: 100,000 children affected by the earthquake in Morocco

According to the first information from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), around 100,000 children were affected by the earthquake disaster in Morocco. The organization stated in a statement that the exact number of dead and injured children is not yet known. However, according to the latest estimates, children will represent almost a third of the country’s population in 2022.

According to Unicef, aftershocks are expected to continue in the coming days and weeks and endanger children and families. Schools, hospitals and other medical and educational facilities were damaged or destroyed by the earthquake, placing additional stress on children.