Long Winter For Morocco Quake Survivors

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Douzrou, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Feb, 2024) Long, cold months have passed since an earthquake levelled Abdallah Oubelaid's impoverished village in Morocco's High Atlas mountains.

Every day, he or other villagers come to inspect the debris. They hope to find pieces of wood for heating and cooking, or even to recover objects of value that have so far escaped them, and all the while a bitter Oubelaid wonders when he will get the government aid that he applied for.

"Every time I ask, they tell me it's going to happen," Oubelaid, 35, said. "But I have children to feed and to clothe."

Moroccan authorities said around 3,000 people died during the 6.

8 magnitude earthquake that struck on September 8, leaving more than 60,000 houses damaged.

From Oubelaid's village of Douzrou, around 80 kilometres (50 miles) from Marrakesh city, residents give a death toll of about 80.

The survivors, 150 families, found refuge a few kilometres away on rocky ground beside a road with a view of snow-capped mountains.

Around 120 of them have received help from the government. They either got a 2,500-dirham ($249) monthly stipend or 20,000 Dirhams for reconstruction.

The rest, like Oubelaid, said they don't know why they received nothing.