Africa

Death toll surpasses 2,000 from strong quake in Morocco

Published

2 years ago

September 10, 2023

Death toll surpasses 2,000 from strong quake in Morocco

Rescuers were searching for survivors of a powerful earthquake that struck overnight about 50 miles from the city of Marrakesh.

Search and rescue efforts were intensifying on Saturday night, nearly 24 hours after a powerful and deadly earthquake surged across western Morocco, as emergency teams raced to prevent more deaths in remote mountain villages that are not easily accessible.

The quake, which struck in the High Atlas Mountains shortly after 11 p.m. on Friday, has killed more than 2,000 people and raised the specter of a humanitarian disaster in a seismically vulnerable area of Africa.

The office of King Mohammed VI said that he had ordered the government to rapidly provide shelter and rebuild houses for those in distress, “particularly orphans and the vulnerable,” but that certain areas were inaccessible during darkness, preventing rescue workers from reaching them until after dawn on Sunday. The king also did not clarify whether Morocco would formally request foreign assistance to allow outside rescue teams to intervene.

At least 2,012 people were killed, according to Morocco’s Interior Ministry, and at least 2,059 were injured, more than 1,400 of them critically. The quake, which had a magnitude of at least 6.8 according to a preliminary report from the United States Geological Survey, was the strongest to hit the area in more than a century.

“I never felt anything like this in my life,” said Raja Bouri, 33, who lives in the outskirts of Marrakesh. “It felt like a plane fell on me..”

The temblor was indiscriminate in its demolition, rippling through the densely populated medinas of Marrakesh and the rural villages ringing the city, where walls of earthen homes shook, cracked and collapsed. Some roads have been blocked by landslides, said Sami Fakhouri, the acting head in Morocco of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

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Local news media posted images of rubble-strewn streets and footage of people panicking as the shaking began. Some residents returned to their apartments after the quake ended, but many others in areas near the quake’s epicenter, fearful of aftershocks, spent the night sleeping on the streets.

“My husband and four children died,” one woman told Moroccan state television. “Mustapha, Hassan, Ilhem, Ghizlaine, Ilyes. Everything I had is gone. I am all alone.”

Here’s what to know about the earthquake:

France, a former colonial power in Morocco, was among the first to offer help. The French Embassy in Morocco opened a crisis hotline and the mayor of the southern French port city of Marseille said that he would send firefighters to help with rescue efforts in Marrakesh, a sister city.
Moroccan authorities announced three days of national mourning to honor victims of the deadly earthquake. In a statement carried by the state news agency, the office of King Mohammed VI said that after a crisis meeting with officials in Rabat, the capital, he had ordered the government to rapidly provide shelter and rebuild houses for those in distress, “particularly orphans and the vulnerable.”
Several governments and charity groups, including Doctors Without Borders, have offered to send aid and rescue teams. Even countries with a history of conflicted relations with Morocco — like Israel and Algeria — have pledged to provide assistance. Here’s how to help.
Marrakesh is known for its old city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that was founded in the 11th century and which attracts tourists with its open-air markets, uneven cobblestone streets and labyrinthine passageways.
The precise strength of the quake was not yet fully clear. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated it at 6.8. But a Moroccan agency said it measured 7.2., which the U.S.G.S. said could be more accurate. Initial readings of magnitude are measured automatically, and need to be revised by seismologists.

Death toll surpasses 2,000 from strong quake in Morocco

Africa

Over 120 inmates escape prison in Chad shoot-out

Published

3 days ago

April 21, 2025

Trends Admin

Over 120 inmates escape prison in Chad shoot-out

No fewer than 120 inmates escaped a Chad prison during a shoot-out that left three people dead and wounded a state governor visiting the facility, officials told AFP.

The breakout occurred late Friday when an uprising happened in the high-security penitentiary five kilometres (three miles) from the town of Mongo, in the centre of Chad.

“There are around 100 who escaped, three dead and three wounded,” Hassan Souleymane Adam, secretary general of the Guera province in which Mongo is located, said.

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A local Mongo official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, disclosed that prisoners broke into a manager’s office to steal guns.

“A shootout with guards ensued at the same time the governor arrived. He was wounded,” he said.

The Mongo official confirmed there were three killed and a total number of 132 prisoners escaped.

He disclosed that the prisoners revolted after complaining about a lack of food.

In a telephone chat with AFP, Chad’s Justice Minister Youssouf Tom stated that he was about to fly to the region and would be able to give “precise information once I am at Mongo in the coming hours.”

Over 120 inmates escape prison in Chad shoot-out

Africa

DR Congo boat fire kills 143 passengers

Published

5 days ago

April 19, 2025

Trends Admin

DR Congo boat fire kills 143 passengers

No fewer than 143 people died, and dozens more went missing after a boat carrying fuel caught fire and capsized in the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said Friday.

Hundreds of passengers were jammed onto a wooden boat on the Congo River in northwest DRC on Tuesday when the wildfire broke out, according to Josephine-Pacifique Lokumu, head of a delegation of national MPs from the region.

The calamity struck near Mbandaka, the capital of Equateur Province, at the junction of the Ruki and the massive Congo River, the world’s deepest.

“A first group of 131 bodies was found on Wednesday, with a further 12 fished out on Thursday and Friday. Several of them are charred,” Lokumu told AFP.

According to Joseph Lokondo, a local civil society activist who helped bury the remains, the “provisional death toll is 145: some burnt, others drowned”.

According to Lokumu, the blaze was triggered by a fuel explosion sparked by an onboard cooking fire.

“A woman lit the embers for cooking. The fuel, which was not far away, exploded, killing many children and women,” she said.

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Videos circulating on social media showed flames leaping from a big boat stranded far from shore, smoke rising from the wreckage, and passengers on smaller vessels watching on.

The precise number of passengers on board the tragic vessel was unknown, but Lokumu estimated it to be in the “hundreds”.

Some people were rescued and admitted to the hospital, Lokondo added.

However, he said that “several families were still without news of their loved ones” on Friday.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a huge Central African nation spanning 2.3 million square kilometres (900,000 square miles), suffers from a shortage of passable roads, and planes serve just a few cities and villages.

As a result, people frequently travel on lakes, the Congo River (Africa’s second longest river after the Nile), and its winding tributaries, where shipwrecks are common and mortality tolls are high.

The persistent lack of passenger lists frequently hinders search activities.

In October 2023, at least 47 people perished when a boat travelling the Congo sank in Equateur.

According to local authorities, a boat sank on Lake Kivu in eastern DR Congo in October of last year, killing more than 20 persons.

Another shipwreck on Lake Kivu killed approximately 100 lives in 2019.

DR Congo boat fire kills 143 passengers

Africa

Niger Republic adopts Hausa as national language

Published

2 weeks ago

April 9, 2025

Trends Admin

Niger’s military ruler Gen Abdourahamane Tchiani

Niger Republic adopts Hausa as national language

In a significant cultural shift, Niger’s military-led government has officially designated Hausa as the country’s national language, marking a break from the nation’s colonial legacy where French held prominence.

The announcement was made in a new national charter released on March 31, as published in a special edition of the government’s official journal.

According to the document, “The national language is Hausa,” and “the working languages are English and French.”

Hausa is already widely spoken across Niger, especially in the regions of Zinder, Maradi, and Tahoua. With an estimated population of 26 million, the majority of Nigeriens speak Hausa, while only about 13 percent—roughly three million people—are fluent in French.

Alongside Hausa, the charter also officially recognizes nine other indigenous languages, including Zarma-Songhay, Fula, Kanuri, Gourmanche, and Arabic, as “the spoken languages of Niger.”

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This language policy change follows a national consultative meeting held in February, during which the junta gained increased support. The assembly also approved a five-year extension for junta leader General Abdourahamane Tiani to remain in power.

Since the coup that ousted civilian president Mohamed Bazoum in July 2023, the military government has taken steps to sever ties with France. These include expelling French troops, cutting diplomatic relations, and renaming roads and public buildings previously named in French.

Niger’s move mirrors similar actions taken by fellow former French colonies Mali and Burkina Faso—both under military rule—as they too distance themselves from France and its institutions.

All three countries have also withdrawn from the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, a body that promotes the French language and cultural ties among member nations.