The Air Force has withdrawn 102 Portuguese citizens from Morocco who asked for help to leave the African country, shaken by a strong earthquake on Friday night, the government said today.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the 102 Portuguese (including the father and child who were injured in the earthquake) arrived this morning on the Portuguese Air Force plane that had flown to Marrakech on Saturday night.
The withdrawal operation, “despite the vicissitudes on the ground, took place in an orderly and peaceful manner,” the ministry says, stressing that it will continue “to be in contact with the Portuguese who remain in the region most affected” by the earthquake, which, according to the latest official figures, caused 2,012 deaths and 2,059 injuries, of which 1,404 were in serious condition.
The diplomatic service adds that Portugal is still waiting for the Moroccan authorities to “express their willingness to provide the support already announced by the government”, specifically “the sending of search and rescue or forensic medicine teams”.
The earthquake, whose epicenter was in the town of Ighil, 63 kilometers southwest of the city of Marrakech, was felt in Portugal and Spain and reached a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale, according to Morocco’s National Geophysics Institute.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) recorded the magnitude of the earthquake at 6.8.
The Kingdom of Morocco has declared three days of national mourning.
