Search and rescue operations continue after a magnitude seven earthquake caused a national tragedy in Morocco on Friday.
With over 2,800 dead and 2,000 more injured, that number continues to swell as emergency services reach remote mountain villages.
CGTN correspondent Ken Browne managed to get to one of those villages and found a scene of utter devastation.
Viewer discretion is advised, as this report has some distressing images.
WATCH: Morocco Earthquake Disaster Village
High up in the Atlas Mountains, the full scale of Friday’s earthquake unfolds.
The simple, rural, goat-rearing village of Tafaght has a population of around 400 people; one local tells us that some 100 have died.
The Amazir people’s lives and livelihoods have disappeared with the earthquake. This is Morocco’s worst earthquake in 60 years.
One resident, Mohammed Ait El Ghanbaz, has lost eight family members.
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“We were at home. I escaped with my wife and kids, but I lost my father, my two brothers’ wives and their kids. I lost eight people dear to me,” said Ghanbaz,
Reports from the scene reveal that few emergency services have gained access to the area. Residents have say they pulled loved ones from the rubble with their own hands.
Villages like the one in the Atlas Mountains suffered from poor infrastructure even before the earthquake.
The villagers felt abandoned by the authorities, and they pointed to a cemetery full of makeshift graves as undeniable evidence.
Individual piles of sticks and stones hide a hundred tragedies, families hoping to give loved ones a dignified burial amid the chaos.
“Winter is close, and people are poor. We hope the authorities help rebuild the houses, even if they put up half the money. We hope they do something but don’t know if they will,” said another resident Sabah Bouzghar.
As the death toll rises, Morocco’s grieving has only just begun.
*This article was originally published by CGTN and was republished with permission.
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