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Nasser Bouchiba, president of the Africa-China Cooperation Association for Development, thanked overseas Chinese across the kingdom for extending help.
Chinese residents in Morocco rushed to provide aid in cash and in kind to the affected areas, as the death toll from the strong earthquake three days ago exceeds 3,000 and the number of injured exceeds 5,500.
On Monday, search and rescue work were seen underway among teams from Spain, Britain, and other countries stationed in Amizmiz, a small town at the foot of the quake-hit Atlas Mountains.
According to official data, helicopters have been shuttling between the central city of Marrakesh, where locals said tremors of a major aftershock were felt a day earlier, and other areas hit hard by the 6.8-magnitude quake on Friday night.
The Industry and Commerce Federation of Chinese Nationals in Morocco made a donation call to the local Chinese community, its President Lin Weiqiang said in a statement on Monday, adding that once collected, the aid would be delivered by the Chinese embassy to the Moroccan side.
Morocco reels from a devastating 6.8 earthquake, with fading hope for survivors. The death toll surpasses 3,000, and over 5,500 are injured. Survivors endure makeshift tents pic.twitter.com/J2mkNacONZ
— TRT World (@trtworld) September 12, 2023
The Moroccan-Chinese Chamber of Commerce is also allocating emergency supplies to the disaster area.
Nasser Bouchiba, president of the Africa-China Cooperation Association for Development, thanked overseas Chinese across the kingdom for extending help. "It was heartwarming to see Chinese friends trying their best to send donations to the disaster-stricken areas," Bouchiba said.
According to official reports, the epicenter of Friday's earthquake was near the town of Ighil in Al Haouz Province, some 70 km south of Marrakesh.
In a residential neighborhood in Amizmiz, Xinhua reporters saw police and local residents digging through the rubble with shovels and even with their bare hands as machines can not pass the narrow alleys.
Furthermore, Bouchiba also stated that at the epicenter were densely populated, mountainous villages, where fickle weather makes rescue work all the more challenging.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has allocated 1 million Swiss francs (1.12 million U.S. dollars) from its emergency disaster fund to assist the Moroccan Red Crescent (MRC) in its on-site efforts.
On Saturday, the Red Cross Society of China announced that it would provide the MRC with 200,000 dollars in cash as emergency humanitarian assistance for its rescue and disaster relief work.
By Monday evening, the earthquake had killed 2,862 people and injured at least 2,562 in Morocco, according to the latest update from the Interior Ministry.
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