Overseas Chinese in quake-hit Morocco raise donation as death toll exceeds 2,800

AMIZMIZ, Morocco, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Overseas Chinese in Morocco rushed to extend cash and in-kind assistance to disaster areas as death toll from the powerful earthquake three days ago reached 2,862.

On Monday, search and rescue work is seen underway among teams from Spain, Britain, and other countries stationed in Amizmiz, a small town at the foot of the quake-hit Atlas Mountains.

Helicopters have been shuttling between the central city of Marrakesh, where locals said tremors of a major aftershock were felt a day earlier, and other areas hit hard by the 6.8-magnitude quake on Friday night.

The Industry and Commerce Federation of Chinese Nationals in Morocco has made a donation call to the local Chinese community, its President Lin Weiqiang told Xinhua on Monday, adding that once collected, the aid would be delivered by the Chinese embassy to the Moroccan side.

The Moroccan-Chinese Chamber of Commerce is also allocating emergency supplies to the disaster area.

Nasser Bouchiba, president of the Africa-China Cooperation Association for Development, thanked overseas Chinese across the kingdom for extending help, saying "It was heartwarming to see Chinese friends trying their best to send donations to the disaster-stricken areas."

The epicenter of Friday's earthquake was near the town of Ighil in Al Haouz Province, some 70 km south of Marrakesh.

In a residential neighborhood in Amizmiz, Xinhua reporters saw police and local residents digging through the rubble with shovels and even with their bare hands as machines can not pass the narrow alleys.

Bouchiba added that at the epicenter were densely populated, mountainous villages, where fickle weather makes rescue work all the more challenging.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has allocated 1 million Swiss francs (1.12 million U.S. dollars) from its emergency disaster fund to assist the Moroccan Red Crescent (MRC) in its on-site efforts.

On Saturday, the Red Cross Society of China announced that it would provide the MRC with 200,000 dollars in cash as emergency humanitarian assistance for its rescue and disaster relief work.

By Monday evening, the earthquake had killed 2,862 people and injured at least 2,562 in Morocco, according to the latest update from the Interior Ministry.