In the epicenter of the Al Haouz earthquake… painful stories rise from under the rubble
On the narrow road at the bottom of the valley between the Atlas Mountains, leading to the villages of the Al Haouz Province, cars and trucks are lined up carrying aid for the villages afflicted by the devastating earthquake that struck them on September 8, which claimed the lives of about 3,000 people.
Until a few days ago, the road was blocked by stones and huge boulders that collapsed from the mountaintops due to violent vibrations. The authorities have worked throughout the past period, using heavy machinery and equipment, to remove these rocks and open the way for aid and relief teams to reach the destroyed villages.
Heavy machinery and equipment to remove rocks and open the way for aid and relief teams to reach the destroyed villages (Middle East)
Along this narrow, bumpy path covered in dust and gravel, there are tents erected to shelter residents whose homes were destroyed. The road passes through a number of villages in the Al Haouz province until it reaches the village of Ighil, the main epicenter of the earthquake. The destruction appeared massive in these areas most affected by the earthquake, as houses collapsed on top of their residents and shops and facilities turned into piles of rubble.
The main epicenter of the earthquake is the village of Talat Nicoub, about 100 kilometers south of Marrakesh. The scene of devastation here seemed enormous. The earthquake flattened the houses of this village, which is located in the valley, turning them into a huge pile of rubble scattered on the sides of the road. Not a single house here was spared from the effects of the devastating tremors, until they all became ruins.
Effects of the earthquake (Middle East)
Following the earthquake, landslides blocked the road leading to the village and prevented rescue and aid teams from arriving. The authorities worked for days to open the road to this area and deliver rescue teams, who immediately began searching intensively for missing persons amid the devastation that had spread in the area. Crews succeeded in recovering a number of bodies, while others remained trapped under the walls of destroyed houses and their collapsed roofs.
In the village of Talat Ni’aqoub, the main epicenter of the earthquake (Asharq Al-Awsat)
He lost everything…his family and his home
On top of the rubble of one of the destroyed houses in the village, a young man in his twenties sits alone, wearing black clothes, crying for his family, all of whom died under the rubble. Trying to ask the grieving young man about the details of what happened to his family was very difficult. His burdens seemed as heavy as the towering mountains overlooking his destroyed village.
After greeting, we asked him if he wanted to talk. He was overcome with tears and told us, with a voice trembling from the weight of losing his family and loved ones, that he was unable to speak. We missed him. He thanked us and went on to stare at the mountains and valleys, on whose peaks gray clouds descended before sunset, mixing with the threads of light that penetrated the opposite mountainside. The young man seemed to be digging the ground, hoping to find his family and loved ones among the clouds, while verses from the Holy Quran came from his phone speaker. The scene was harsh and painful.
From the destruction in the villages of Al Haouz Province (Asharq Al-Awsat)
“I heard my neighbors taking their last breaths under the rubble.”
In front of the rubble of his destroyed house on the edge of the village opposite its main street, Hassan, leaning on crutches while his feet were wrapped in plaster, recounts the details of the terrifying moments he and his family lived when the earthquake struck. He says that what happened to his village will not be erased from memory, and its painful details will be told for generations. Hassan narrates that on the night of the earthquake, he was at home watching a football match with his two sons. He says: “We heard loud noises like gunfire. It was not like the sound of a normal earthquake, but rather it was a terrifying sound. Very quickly, the roof of the house disappeared, as if you had removed a scarf, and then a strong, very bright light appeared.”
He added: “I and my children quickly went out. I then returned to rescue my wife, who was sleeping in the bedroom. I found her lying on the ground, so I dragged her outside, then ran quickly to save my parents, who lived next to me. I heard their screams on the way to them before I entered and could get them out.”
The young man, who worked as a carpenter, narrated how he later returned to find his niece and wife buried under the rubble. He says: “With great difficulty and after several attempts to dig, I pulled them out from under the rubble when we were hit by an aftershock, after which I jumped from the top, which led to me breaking my foot.”
He recounts painful details of those moments when he heard the screams of his neighbors and their children under the rubble. He says: “We could hear the screams of our neighbors under the rubble, asking for help.” He recounts with sorrow how he heard his neighbors calling for help in their last moments before their death, “I heard the voice of my neighbor and his children breathing under the rubble. My neighbor and three sons died, the youngest of whom was three years old, along with two other daughters.”
“It was a disaster in every sense of the word. It was a tragedy,” says Hassan, who points out that about 75 people died under the rubble in this neighborhood, all of whom he had known since his childhood and used to live with them. He points with his hand to a small greenhouse that was used to press olive oil. The smell of death emanates from among the rubble of the house next door. He says that the bodies of the residents of the house rotted under the dirt before the rescue teams recovered them. He laments what happened to his village, saying: “This place used to be bustling with life, but today it has turned into a pile of ruins.”
Of the destroyed homes in the earthquake area (Middle East)
On the edge of the village street stands a red iron sign reading “House for sale.” Behind her, the roof of the house collapsed, its walls collapsed, and some of its contents, furniture, lights, and the needs of its owners were scattered among the stones and iron wires. The residents of the house, whose fate was unknown, held hopes of selling the house and moving on to a new path, but the devastating earthquake turned their hopes and their house into rubble.
The market was destroyed… but the pottery survived
Behind the village houses is the main village market. Its stores collapsed as a result of the tremors that affected it, and the goods inside were scattered among piles of stones. Some straw baskets, bags of wheat, and other goods were scattered in the middle of the market, which was completely destroyed. Some pottery survived, which remained strangely upright on a shelf in front of one of the shops that had completely collapsed, in the market empty except for rubble, waiting for customers who may not come and a seller who may not return.
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2023-09-19 01:39:08
