Richard Branson’s sister has urged people not to cancel their holidays to Morocco following an earthquake that has killed more than 2,100 people.
Vanessa Branson, whose family owns hotels in the country, pleaded for tourists to go ahead with their holiday plans and for donations to the victims.
She also called for the annual meeting of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to go ahead as planned on October 9 in Marrakesh.
Her plea came as video showed damage to one of Branson’s hotels – the Kasbah Tamadot – located in the Atlas Mountains, 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Marrakesh.
It is also close to the small village of Imlil where two British backpackers were reported missing by their families but were confirmed safe last night after sleeping on the streets overnight.
Vanessa Branson, whose family owns hotels in the country, pleaded for tourists to continue with their holiday plans to Morocco and for donations to the earthquake victims
Vanessa Branson’s plea came as video showed damage to one of Branson’s hotels – the Kasbah Tamadot – which is located in the Atlas Mountains, 30 miles south of Marrakesh
The epicenter of the earthquake occurred in Al Haouz province, about 72 kilometers south of Marrakesh. The province is home to small communities high in the Atlas Mountains, as well as Richard Branson’s Kasbah Tamadot hotel (pictured)
People carry the remains of a victim of the deadly magnitude 6.8 earthquake in Morocco
‘The summit must absolutely go ahead. There is no reason not to visit Marrakech now,” Vanessa Branson told The Times from the Moroccan city of one million people.
“Although some old buildings have been damaged, the basic heart of the city, like its inhabitants, is robust,” she added.
Ms Branson urged holidaymakers to go ahead with their holiday plans to the country, saying money from the tourism sector would be vital to the rebuilding efforts of communities devastated by Friday’s magnitude 6 earthquake .8 on the Richter scale.
The epicenter of the earthquake occurred in Al Haouz province, about 72 kilometers south of Marrakesh. The province is home to small communities high in the Atlas Mountains, as well as Branson’s Kasbah Tamadot hotel.
The region is largely rural and consists of red rock mountains, picturesque gorges and sparkling streams and lakes. Small hamlets are scattered across the hills.
Marrakech itself also experienced violent shaking, causing debris to fall into the streets and alleys.
“All international hotels and most riads are strong enough to stay in,” Ms Branson said. ‘My message is: don’t cancel your holiday. You arrive in a country where the true resilience and beauty of the people emerges through the crisis.’
Ms Branson’s plea came as footage verified by the Associated Press showing damage to the Kasbah Tamadot was posted online.
The short clip showed a doorway with rubble on the ground and damage to the castle-like turrets above, some of which were on the verge of collapse.
Volunteers dig through the rubble of collapsed houses in the village of Imi N’Tala near Amizmiz in central Morocco after the deadly force of 6.8 on the Richter scale, September 10, 2023
Family members embrace in the rubble of collapsed buildings in Morocco, September 10
A woman is overcome with emotion at the site of collapsed buildings in Morocco, September 10
Meanwhile, rescuers on Monday faced a growing race against time to dig out any survivors from the rubble of destroyed villages in the surrounding hills.
According to official figures, the country’s strongest earthquake ever to date has claimed more than 2,100 lives and injured more than 2,400 people, many of them seriously.
Rabat announced on Sunday that it had accepted aid offers from four foreign countries, while many other countries have also said they would send aid.
Authorities have responded favorably “at this stage” to offers from Britain, Spain, Qatar and the UAE “to send search and rescue teams”, the Home Office said.
It noted that the foreign teams were in contact with Moroccan authorities to coordinate efforts, and said only four offers had been accepted because “a lack of coordination could be counterproductive.”
Other offers may be accepted in the future “as needs evolve,” the ministry said.
France was ready to provide aid “when Morocco asked for it,” President Emmanuel Macron said.
A Qatari aid flight took off from Al-Udeid air base outside Doha on Sunday evening, an AFP journalist said.
Spain has sent 86 rescuers and eight sniffer dogs to Morocco to “help in the search and rescue of survivors of the devastating earthquake in our neighboring country,” a defense ministry statement said.
“We will send whatever is necessary because everyone knows that these first hours are crucial, especially when there are people buried under the rubble,” Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles told public television.
A woman cries and is comforted by family as volunteers recover the body of a relative from collapsed houses in the village of N’Tala, central Morocco, September 10
A volunteer prays near the rubble of collapsed buildings in the village of Imi N’Tala
People walk past a partially collapsed building in Ouirgane, Morocco on September 10, 2023
The earthquake wiped out entire villages in the hills of the Atlas Mountains, where civilian rescuers and members of Morocco’s armed forces have searched for survivors and the bodies of the dead.
Many houses in remote mountain villages were built of mud bricks.
The remote village of Tafeghaghte, 65 kilometers from Marrakech in Al-Haouz province, was almost completely destroyed with very few buildings left standing.
‘Everyone’s gone! My heart is broken. I am inconsolable,” cried Zahra Benbrik, 62, who said she had lost 18 family members.
In Al-Haouz province alone, authorities recorded more than 1,300 deaths.
According to Moroccan public television, “more than 18,000 families have been affected” by the earthquake in Al-Haouz, the site of the epicenter.
The Ministry of Education announced that classes in the worst-affected villages of Al-Haouz had been ‘suspended’ and that schools would not be open from Monday.
Citizens rushed to hospitals in Marrakech on Sunday to donate blood to help the injured, while many mobilized to help those affected.
Some parts of Marrakech’s historic medina and its network of alleys suffered significant damage, with piles of rubble and crumpled buildings.
The kingdom has declared three days of national mourning.
The Red Cross warned that it could take years to repair the damage caused by the earthquake.
“It won’t be a matter of a week or two… We expect a response that will take months, if not years,” said Hossam Elsharkawi, Middle East and North Africa director.
The quake was the deadliest in Morocco since a 1960 earthquake devastated Agadir, killing more than 12,000 people.