Fatima, 50, told CNN her house in the town of Asni in the foothills of the High Atlas Mountains was destroyed in the earthquake.
“I barely got the chance to grab the kids and run out before I saw my house collapsing in front of my eyes. The neighbor’s house has also collapsed and there are two dead people under the rubble,” she said.
She added that help is yet to arrive in the remote town. “There is no one here to help pull the dead from under the destruction…the village is in very bad condition. There is destruction everywhere.”
Mohammed, 50, from the nearby town of Ouirgane, lost four family members in the quake. “I managed to get out safely with my two children but lost the rest. My house is gone.” he said.
Rescue operations are currently ongoing “We are out in the streets with authorities as they try to pull the dead from the rubble. Many, many people were transported to hospital in front of me. We are hoping for miracles from the rubble" he said.
Mustapha Louaanabi, who also lives in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains described the moment the earthquake struck saying there were “loud, deafening noises” and it felt as if “a train was passing right in the middle of the living room”.
His family fled outside, where they stayed for the rest of the night as aftershocks continued until 8am. “Nobody slept all night because of the aftershocks and the noise of these shocks created panic,” he said.
Louaanabi’s house survived the quake, but a town nearby has been razed to the ground and locals are unable to retrieve bodies from under the rubble he said. Many of the villages in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains close to the epicenter of the quake are isolated and difficult to access.
