Following a devastating earthquake that shook the hub of North Africa in the early hours of Saturday, King Mohammed VI of Morocco has announced urgent measures to expedite rescue operations following a worst earthquake which struck the country on Saturday morning.
Among the measures taken immediately after the calamity was the directive from King Mohammed VI to the royal armed forces, local authorities, security services, and civil protection units to among other things :
1.Reinforcing the national blood stock.
2.supplying drinking water to affected areas.
3.Distributing food kits, tents, and blankets to the affected population.
4.Quickly resuming public services.
King Mohammed VI also directed the Supreme Commander and Chief of General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) to urgently deploy significant human and logistical air and land resources, as well as specialised intervention modules based on search and rescue teams and a medical-surgical field hospital.
Other immediate interventions as per the King’s directive to save lives and speed up rescue operations included:
- Immediately set up an inter-ministerial commission in charge of carrying out an emergency rehabilitation and aid programme to reconstruct as soon as possible the destroyed homes in the affected areas.
2.Provide care to people in distress, notably orphans and vulnerable people.
3.Provide immediate care to all people who found themselves without shelter following the earthquake, in terms of housing, food, and other basic needs.
4.Encourage economic operators to resume activities in the areas concerned.
5.Open a special bank account at Treasury and Bank Al Maghrib to receive the voluntary solidarity contributions of citizens as well as private and public instructions.
6.Ensure the full mobilisation of the Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity, with all its components, to support citizens in affected areas
Although the most recent death toll has been released by Morocco’s Interior Ministry, the figure is certain to rise as rescuers continue to explore the wreckage.
Numerous foreign leaders, including Olaf Scholz, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Narendra Modi, and Emmanuel Macron, have shown support.
