The death toll from the Morocco earthquake has climbed to 2,681 people, Authorities have confirmed.
This was disclosed by the Interior Ministry of Morocco on Monday after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake tore through villages in the Southwest region of Marrakesh in the North African country on Friday night.
More than 1,000 were reported dead in the Al Haouz province, with over 400 deaths recorded in the city of Taroudant.
On Sunday, the same region was rattled by an aftershock of magnitude 4.5, affecting the village of Tafeghaghte, not distant from Marrakesh, destroying almost every building in its path.
The recent figure is an update from the death toll of 2,122 earlier announced by authorities.
According to Morocco’s Ministry of Education, 585 schools were damaged by the earthquake, with seven teachers confirmed dead and over 30 others suffering injuries.
The ministry has temporarily suspended education activities for students in the most affected regions of the earthquake.
Friday’s earthquake is Morocco’s deadliest since the 1960 earthquake which killed more than 12,000 people.
The WHO estimates that more than 300,000 individuals in Marrakech and its environs have been impacted.
At least 2,501 people have been confirmed to have suffered various degrees of injuries, according to the nation’s interior ministry, as the search-rescue mission continues.
Several organisations and countries have expressed their commiserations and offered various forms of assistance to Morocco in the wake of the devastating earthquake, including Algeria, France, China, Turkey, Britain, and many others.
Numerous other international leaders have extended their sympathies, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was present at the G20.
According to Sunday’s report by state-run broadcaster al-Aoula, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI praised Spain, Qatar, Britain, and the United Arab Emirates for sending relief following the earthquake.
