Maria Boujdig lives in Agadir but is originally from Tafeghaghte, one of the villages hardest hit in mountainous Al-Haouz province, the epicentre of Friday's quake.
She loaded her car with food and drove the more than 200 kilometres (125 miles) east to distribute it to needy villagers in the aftermath of the strongest earthquake ever to hit the North African country.
The quake killed at least 2,122 people, injured more than 2,400 others, and flattened entire villages.
Faced with the level of destruction, the insurance broker felt she had to act. "I got calls from families saying they had nothing to eat," Boujdig told AFP. "So I spent 10,000 dirhams ($980) on food to help in my own small way."
"The tragedy of the dead is made worse by the terrible conditions faced by the survivors," she said.
"It's catastrophic and serious to be hungry in these conditions. It was only natural for me to help."
Tafeghaghte is around 60 kilometres from the tourist centre of Marrakesh and accessible only by a narrow dusty track.
- 'Something to eat' -
In a small warehouse spared by the quake, three villagers stored packs of water, sacks of flour, tea, canned goods and cakes that Boujdig and like-minded benefactors brought to the village.
One of them, Mohammed, who asked that his last name not be used, lost his 16-year-old daughter in the tragedy.
"Twenty-four hours after it happened, we decided to take things into our own hands because there was no one else to help us," he said.
"We made sure that everyone had something to eat."
Mustapha El-Machmoum said: "There's no sign of the authorities for the moment. We're so isolated here. Without benefactors we would starve."
The 34-year-old is barely holding it together: his mother, brother, grandfather, three cousins and the wives of two of his uncles all died in the quake.
Forty-eight hours after the earth shook, the villagers were spending their third night put in the open.
"We asked the authorities for tents yesterday, but nothing arrived," El-Machmoum told AFP.
"We're sleeping on the ground in the cold. Adults can cope with this, but not the children."
Official aid had reached the village of Tikht, near Adassil around 30 kilometres southwest of Tafeghaghte, where Moroccan authorities erected bright yellow tents for quake survivors.
A volunteer, Mohamed Belkaid, drove from Marrakesh after filling his car with packs of water to distribute in the mountain villages.
- 'Needs are enormous' -
"I wanted to help people affected by the earthquake. On the way, many people asked me about the situation in Tafeghaghte, so I decided to go there," he said.
"Everyone must mobilise," the 65-year-old said. "And that includes the authorities, but they seem to be absent."
Help has also come from far away, from Al-Hoceima in northeast Morocco where a 2004 earthquake killed 628 people.
A group of 13 people drove more than 790 kilometres from Al-Hoceima in two vans and two cars to bring food aid to the stricken Al-Haouz villages.
"We lived through this in 2004, so it's completely normal that we step in to help," Said Ouael El-Haj from Beni Bouayach in Al-Hoceima province told AFP.
The group took food to the villages of Sour Tahannaout, Moulay Brahim and Assif Imigdal.
"It's the first aid we've received since the earthquake," said Mohamed Bakka, 65, from Sour Tahannaout.
In a suburb of Marrakesh, a line of small trucks formed outside a supermarket to be filled with 10-kilogram (22-pound) bags of flour, water, milk, fruit juice and other food bought by residents and delivered in overflowing carts.
Groups including Draw A Smile and Lions International have already stepped in to help victims in the devastated villages.
"We're trying to do our best, but the needs are enormous," said Ilias Ghassani, 20, general secretary of the local section of Lions International Red City.
Foreign rescuers join Morocco quake race against time
Tikht, Morocco (AFP) Sept 11, 2023 -
Moroccan rescuers supported by newly-arrived foreigners on Monday faced an intensifying race against time to dig out any survivors from the rubble of mountain villages, on the third day after the country's strongest-ever earthquake.
The 6.8-magnitude quake struck the Atlas mountains late Friday southwest of the tourist centre of Marrakesh. It killed almost 2,500 people and injured a similar number, according to the latest official toll issued Monday.
Rabat on Sunday announced it had accepted aid offers from four nations, while many other countries have said they were willing to send assistance.
Authorities have responded favourably "at this stage" to offers from Spain, Britain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates "to send search and rescue teams", the interior ministry said.
It noted the foreign teams were in contact with Moroccan authorities to coordinate efforts, and said only four offers had been accepted so far, arguing that "a lack of coordination could be counterproductive".
President Emmanuel Macron said France was willing to provide aid "the second" Morocco requested it.
"Morocco is a sovereign country and it's up to it to organise the aid," French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told BFMTV on Monday.
She announced the release of five million euros ($5.4 million) to help non-governmental groups already on the ground in Morocco
- 'The village is dead' -
A Qatari aid flight left from Al-Udeid air base outside Doha on Sunday evening, said an AFP journalist aboard the plane which carried rescue vehicles and other assistance.
Spain has sent 86 rescuers and eight search dogs to the north African country to "help in the search and rescue of survivors of the devastating earthquake suffered in our neighbouring country", said a defence ministry statement.
"We will send whatever is needed because everyone knows that these first hours are key, especially if there are people buried under rubble," Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles told public television.
The earthquake wiped out entire villages in the foothills of the Atlas mountains, where civilian rescuers and members of Morocco's armed forces have searched for survivors and the bodies of the dead.
Many houses in remote mountain villages were built from mud bricks.
While the foreign teams begin to arrive, Moroccan authorities have erected emergency shelters. Bright yellow tents were visible along the road into Tikht, a village which has effectively ceased to exist.
Members of the government's civil protection service carried camp beds from a military-type truck toward the tents. Non-profit groups were also in the area to assess needs.
Previously home to at least 100 families, the quake left Tikht a tangle of timber, chunks of masonry as well as broken plates, shoes and the occasional intricately patterned rug.
"Life is finished here," said Mohssin Aksum, 33, who had family in the settlement, where residents and their livestock were killed. "The village is dead."
- Blood donations -
Citizens reported to hospitals in Marrakesh and elsewhere to donate blood for the injured. Among the donors were members of Morocco's national football team.
Other volunteers organised food and essential goods to help quake victims, after complaints that authorities were slow to respond.
"Everyone must mobilise," said one volunteer, Mohamed Belkaid, 65. "And that includes the authorities, but they seem to be absent."
The education ministry announced that school classes were "suspended" in the worst-hit villages of Al-Haouz province, the quake epicentre.
Some parts of Marrakesh's historic medina and its network of alleyways saw significant damage, with mounds of rubble and crumpled buildings in the World Heritage site.
Dozens of people continued to sleep outdoors overnight in the modern quarter of Marrakesh. Some stretched out on the median strip of Mohamed VI Avenue. Others lay at the foot of their parked cars.
The United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva began its session on Monday with a minute's silence for the quake victims.
"We are part of a global collectivity: humanity," said Gambia's ambassador Muhammadu Kah, who proposed the tribute.
The quake was the deadliest in Morocco since a 1960 earthquake destroyed Agadir, killing at least 12,000 people.
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