Moroccan earthquake death toll rises to 632, government says
Irish citizens in Morocco have been urged to “follow safety instructions” following a powerful earthquake which struck on Friday night killing at least 600 people.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has issued guidance to Irish citizens after the earthquake struck around 11pm local time near Marrakesh.
The earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 and lasted several seconds.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs is closely monitoring the situation in Morocco after the tragic earthquake last night near Marrakesh,” said the Department.
“All Irish citizens in the affected areas are asked to follow safety instructions from local authorities and monitor local media.
“If urgent, the Embassy of Ireland in Rabat, Morocco can be contacted in-country on +212 6 66 933 599. Any concerned family members in Ireland can contact the Department of Foreign Affairs at 01 408 2000.”
A man drives past a damaged wall of the historic Medina of Marrakesh (Mosa’ab Elshamy/AP/PA)
The Moroccan ministry of the interior has said the most damage has occurred around the boundary of cities and towns, however, officials stressed that most of the dead are in “hard-to reach mountain areas.”
More than 300 people have been reported injured following the earthquake and a search is ongoing for survivors.
The historic old city of Marrakech is a popular tourist destination for Irish travellers and videos posted to social media show the buildings reduced to rubble. While parts of the famous red walls, a Unesco World Heritage site, have been damaged.
Tourists take shelter outside a hotel in Marrakesh after the earthquake (AP/PA)
The tremor’s epicentre struck near the town of Ighil, roughly 70 kilometres south of Marrakech.
The earthquake is the country’s deadliest since 2004 when a tremor occurred in the northern Rif mountains and killed more than 600 people.
