President Bola Tinubu has extended his heartfelt condolences to King Mohammed VI of Morocco following Friday’s devastating earthquake in his homeland, which claimed over 800 lives.
“In the face of this adversity, Nigeria will continue to stand in solidarity with Morocco as they recover, rebuild and come out stronger than ever from this unfortunate event,” the President assured Mohammed VI in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale on Saturday.
The statement is titled ‘Earthquake: President Tinubu sends condolences to King of Morocco.’
A powerful earthquake of magnitude 6.8 struck the village of Amizmiz, about 64km south of Marakesh on Saturday, the US Geological Survey confirmed.
Scientists said the earthquake, which was centred in Ighil destroyed some buildings in the ancient city and a UNESCO world heritage site.
Moroccan state media reports that at least 820 persons were killed and 672 injured. It said most deaths were in hard-to-reach mountainous areas.
President Tinubu commiserated with “all families who lost loved ones and all those otherwise affected by the tragedy while wishing a full and swift recovery to those who were injured,” Ngelale revealed.
He assured the government and people of Morocco that the heartfelt prayers and thoughts of Nigerians are with them during this difficult moment of tragedy.
Meanwhile, King Mohammed VI has ordered the armed forces to mobilise air and land assets, specialised search and rescue teams and a surgical field hospital, the Associated Press reports, citing a statement from the military.
The measure, the military says, is a sign of the huge scale of the disaster.
Nonetheless, despite offers of help from world leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine, Narendra Modi of India and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Moroccan government is yet to formally seek assistance; a crucial move required for the deployment of rescue crews.
Saturday’s earthquake is described as Morocco’s deadliest since 2004 when a tremor in the northern Rif mountains killed over 600 people.