WASHINGTON D.C.: US President Joe Biden spoke with Morocco’s King Mohammed VI on Monday to offer condolences following the devastating earthquake that struck earlier this month, the White House said in a statement.
The two leaders discussed Washington’s readiness to assist in recovery efforts, the statement said.
A 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Morocco, with its epicenter in the High Atlas Mountains, on September 8 and claimed more than 3,000 lives and destroyed tens of thousands of homes.
Last Thursday, Morocco announced the launch of an aid programme to support and rehouse the residents of around 50,000 damaged buildings, and ordered urgent aid of 30,000 dirhams (nearly $3,000) to affected households.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said it expected that it will take “weeks, months, years to be able to rebuild,” spokesman Benoit Carpentier told journalists from Marrakesh.
* With AFP
