2023-09-10 17:21:11
This Sunday, the Government guaranteed Morocco the sending of the aid it needs after the earthquake that caused 2,012 deaths and 2,059 injuries in the south of the country on Friday night, according to the provisional balance sheet. Early in the afternoon, a plane with a team from the Military Emergency Unit (UME), made up of 56 soldiers, landed in Marrakesh and from there it plans to travel 100 kilometers south, to Tala N’Yaaqoub, 25 kilometers away. kilometers from the epicenter of the earthquake. The Spanish aid had been announced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, earlier in the day, in statements to the press in New Delhi, after the closing of the G-20 summit that was held in the Indian capital. .
The troops who have traveled to Morocco, who will later be joined by other rescue specialists provided by the autonomous communities, constitute an Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team of the UME, and is made up of a contingent of more than fifty soldiers assisted with four trained dogs in locating possible survivors under the rubble. The strong earthquake suffered by the North African country, with a magnitude of 6.8, has caused damage and collapsed buildings in nine prefectures located around the city of Marrakech. The plane in which they traveled to the Moroccan city is an A400 of the Air Force, the Ministry of Defense has reported through the X network (formerly Twitter), in which it shows its “love, support and solidarity with the people.” of Morocco in the face of this terrible tragedy.”
The deployed personnel are made up of a search and rescue team from BIEM IV (Zaragoza), with 46 soldiers, and a coordination team from Headquarters (UMEDAT), with 10 troops, the Ministry of Defense has informed, to which Four dogs from the cynological team join. Search and Rescue (USAR) teams use cynological equipment and technical means (geophones, telescopic cameras or georadar) to locate and, where appropriate, rescue earthquake victims. In addition, these teams have the ability to cut and drill very hard structures, such as reinforced concrete, and also have means to detect possible toxic or explosive substances and thus ensure the work of rescuers.
Several groups of Spanish firefighters have joined the rescue efforts or will do so shortly. The last to announce it have been those of the Special Emergency and Immediate Response Unit (Ericam) of the Community of Madrid, which is going to move to the area a team of 30 people made up of firefighters, health workers from the SUMMA112 service and canine guides responsible for four rescue dogs.
In Malaga, the Provincial Firefighters Consortium has already obtained the relevant authorizations and a team of five people assisted by four rescue dogs is on its way to Morocco. They will travel from the port of Algeciras to Tangier and, from there, by road to the damaged area. Cádiz sends six firefighters from its consortium, supported by four dogs. This Saturday, five firefighters from Huelva left for the area, accompanied by four dogs and equipped with debris removal and rescue material.
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The General Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergencies of the Ministry of the Interior is managing the field deployment of the UME contingent as well as the logistics and transportation for the rapid movement of the teams sent by the communities. All these tasks are being coordinated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation and with the Moroccan authorities.
Its owner, José Manuel Albares, has specified that Spain is also sending humanitarian aid by plane to the affected area. Spanish collaboration has awaited the formal request from the Moroccan Government, which was made last morning, when the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maghreb country, Naser Burita, called his Spanish counterpart to formally request assistance with which to deal with the consequences of the earthquake. Immediately afterwards, Albares contacted the Ministers of Defense, Margarita Robles, and Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, to activate the assistance device.
A USAR team from the @UMEgobmade up of 56 soldiers and 4 dogs, took off today from the Zaragoza Air Base to Marrakech, on an A400 of the @EjercitoAireto collaborate in the search and rescue of survivors of the devastating earthquake suffered in a neighboring country,… pic.twitter.com/ZSe3LpBYlc
— Ministry of Defense (@Defensagob) September 10, 2023
In the provisional balance of victims there is no Spanish citizen, detailed Albares, who has specified that all those registered in the consultation registry have already been contacted, except for twenty people, and also with police stations and hospitals in the area. “We will have to wait until the end of the rescue operations, but as the hours go by, obviously, our hope that this will continue is growing, because at this time it would be strange if we did not have some news of some Spaniard of whom we do not there is contact”, explained the minister. Albares commented that the Marrakech headquarters of the Cervantes Institute has served as an improvised shelter for “several Spaniards” who were left without accommodation by the earthquake “until a hotel space has been found for them.”
Foreign Affairs has also sent a team to the Moroccan city to help manage the air return of Spaniards who were in the city or its surroundings and who have seen their flights cancelled. The ministry has asked the airlines Iberia and Binter that the planes that go to Morocco have “greater capacity” to accommodate Spaniards who want to return home. In other cases, it will be easier for them to travel by train or road to the northern city of Tangier, from where there is a connection by sea with the Peninsula.
Once the rescue work is completed, Spain will provide aid to Morocco through the Agency for International Development Cooperation.
“Very afraid”
Upon arrival from Morocco at El Prat Airport in Barcelona, several tourists have recounted the “fear” and “chaos” they have experienced due to the earthquake. Xavier, one of them, has related that he was celebrating his birthday with a group of friends in a village located about 30 kilometers from the epicenter of the earthquake, after having hired a five-day excursion on horseback through the Atlas. “We were having dinner when it seemed as if a meter passed by the door. The walls began to fall and we went out to the street, where we spent the night,” explained this Catalan tourist. He has assured that this Saturday, while they were riding down from the mountains, they saw “many people lying in the street”, a “very chaotic situation” and “a lot of misery”, which made him feel, in addition to “fear”, a “great helplessness” for not being able to “help people.” Another of the travelers, Antonio, explained that they were in a riad [tipo de vivienda tradicional marroquí] when the earthquake began: “The house was moving, the knives began to fall… we ran out into the street, people were crying and screaming,” he said.
This morning two planes from Marrakesh landed at Bilbao airport, returning Basque tourists and also Moroccan citizens residing in the Basque Country. The travelers have been received by friends and family who were waiting for them with flowers, balloons and a welcome banner and who have hugged them. “Calm down, love, calm down. It’s already over,” said a young man while he hugged his mother, who burst into emotional tears as soon as she saw him. The arrival of a father and his daughter, who embraced the couple’s mother and second daughter, was also emotional. The woman and one of the girls had to interrupt their vacation due to the girl’s illness and returned days before the earthquake. After those first moments of tears, the witnesses of the earthquake have told their families of the “uncertainty and “fear” they experienced in the first moments when they felt “the ground shake.” The first plane arrived in Bilbao around seven in the morning and the second landed at 12:45 p.m., both from the Moroccan city.
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