The funds will “help organizations on the ground provide food assistance, health services and shelter” following the earthquake that killed about 3,000 people in Morocco.
The United States offered Morocco on Wednesday one million dollars in humanitarian aid to face the catastrophe caused by the earthquake that shook the south of Marrakech on Friday, already causing nearly 3,000 dead and 5,500 injured.
“These funds will help organizations on the ground provide food assistance, health services and housing“said the head of the United States Agency for Development (USAID), Samantha Power, in a statement.
The official guarantees that her country provided technical assistance to the Moroccan government to respond to the crisis and is willing to provide more support if Morocco requests it.
The king of Morocco took more than three days to visit the victims of the earthquake that hit the country
After the earthquake, Morocco accepted humanitarian aid from Spain, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, although He has not ruled out asking other countries for support.
The USAID administrator offered her “deepest condolences” to the Moroccan people for the devastation left by the earthquake, while also reaffirmed “the commitment” of the United States in its support for the “recovery efforts” of the Moroccan Executive.
The official also praised the “tremendous bravery” of affected residents and first responders in searching for missing people and called on Americans to donate to accredited organizations there.
United Nations “ready to provide assistance” to Morocco
The latest provisional balance of the Moroccan government shows almost 3,000 dead, while the official number of injured has not stopped increasing yetand on Wednesday morning it already reached 5,500.
The earthquake, whose epicenter was recorded in the town of Ighil, 63 kilometers southwest of the city of Marrakech, was felt in Portugal and Spain and reached a magnitude 7.0 on the Richter scale, according to the National Institute of Geophysics of Morocco. The United States Geological Survey recorded a magnitude of 6.8.
This earthquake is the deadliest in Morocco since the one that destroyed Agadir, on the country’s western coast, on February 29, 1960, causing between 12,000 and 15,000 deaths, a third of the city’s population.
Search for bodies continues in the tourist town of Ouirgane
Source: Observadora