Rescuers dig for Moroccan quake survivors with their hands as aid blocked from worst-hit areas

U.K. sends 60 specialist rescuers and search dogs to Morocco

The United Kingdom has sent an experienced team of 60 rescuers, complete with specialist gear and four dogs, to assist the Moroccan military in the desperate search for survivors on Monday.

Simon Martin, the British ambassador to Morocco, posted a video on X, formerly known as Twitter, showing him standing in front of a Royal Air Force plane on a runway in Marrakesh.

“It’s with such terrible sadness that I’ve witnessed the devastation of this region has suffered as a result of this earthquake. My condolences go out to everyone who lost someone in this disaster and indeed to all the Moroccan people,” he said.

Morocco has also accepted aid from Spain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Hope is fading in Talat Nyakoub, amid ‘overpowering’ smell of dead bodies

There is hope that loved ones didn’t die when the quake hit the Atlas Mountains here in Morocco, but the smell of dead bodies is at times overpowering and the grim faces of rescue workers speak volumes.

Dozens, sometimes hundreds, of people gather at a newly-formed road created when the street below disintegrated.

Beneath them, groups of rescue workers operating in teams of between six and 12 dig their way through the rubble.

There is little chatter, the sounds of drills and pickaxes fill the air. The occasional sound of somebody wailing punctuates the near silence. A sad indicator that another body has been found.

This is a desperate race to save lives but as each hour passes here, hope fades.

Rescue workers say finding survivors is difficult, not only because of the heat, but because of the amount of time that has passed since the earthquake struck — and the severity of that impact.

Stuart Ramsay is the chief correspondent for Sky News. Read his full account here.

Moroccan armed forces sends aid to stranded mountainous communities

A huge army transport helicopter was loaded with aid bound for mountainous villages that have been cut off by the Morocco earthquake, according to pictures released by the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces on Monday on the social network, X.

The army said it was taking “emergency humanitarian aid” to people living near the epicenter of the quake, in the High Atlas Mountains, which have been cut off due to repeated landslides.

Boulders block aid to hard-hit areas as rescuers dig by hand

MOULAY BRAHIM, Morocco — The roads to get to this remote village are narrow, winding and treacherous — in some places blocked by boulders and rubble.

Throughout this village you can see homes that are either destroyed or partially collapsed. This village was home to 3,000 people, but residents here tell us 40 were killed Friday night, part of the huge national toll.

The rescue effort is extremely complicated, with the devastation spread throughout remote villages like Moulay Ibrahim rather than concentrated in one area. Yet residents are leading the effort, digging by hand in a desperate search for survivors.

Satellite imagery reveals earthquake damage in Morocco

An image from Maxar Technologies released on Sunday shows collapsed building in the town of Amizmiz in the High Atlas mountains of central Morocco in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake.