Death Toll Rises To 2,681 in Morocco Quake

At least 2,681 people died in the strongest-ever earthquake to hit Morocco, the interior ministry said on Monday, revising an earlier toll of nearly 2,500 dead.

Another 2,501 people were injured, the ministry said, as rescue workers race against time in an effort to find survivors.

Friday’s 6.8-magnitude quake struck 72 kilometres (45 miles) southwest of the tourist hub of Marrakesh, wiping out entire villages in the hills of the Atlas mountains.

On Sunday an aftershock of magnitude 4.5 rattled the same region.

The mountain village of Tafeghaghte, 60 kilometres from Marrakesh, was almost entirely destroyed, with very few buildings still standing.

Amid the debris, civilian rescuers and members of Morocco’s armed forces searched for survivors and the bodies of the dead.