RABAT, Morocco
Morocco announced the launch of an aid programme on Thursday to support and rehouse the residents of about 50,000 buildings damaged in last week's devastating earthquake.
The magnitude 6.8 earthquake
-- Morocco's strongest ever -- has killed nearly 3,000 people and injured more
than 5,600 since it hit last Friday in Al-Haouz province, south of tourist hub
Marrakesh.
Those left homeless will be
provided with temporary shelter in "structures designed to withstand cold
and bad weather, or in reception sites equipped with all the necessary
amenities", the royal office said in a statement following a meeting chaired
by King Mohamed VI.
The Moroccan authorities have
also ordered urgent aid of 30,000 dirhams (nearly $3,000) to households
affected by the disaster, the statement added.
It said this would form the first stage of a programme covering some 50,000 homes that had fully or partially collapsed in the quake.
The number of people left
without homes by the quake, which has devastated numerous entire villages in
Morocco's Atlas Mountain region, is not known.
The royal office said 140,000
dirhams (about $13,600) would be allocated for homes that were completely
collapsed, in addition to 80,000 dirhams to rebuild partially collapsed
structures.
Morocco has allowed rescue
teams to come to its aid from Spain, Britain, Qatar and the United Arab
Emirates, but so far declined offers from several other nations, including the
United States, France and some Middle Eastern countries.
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