Qatar sends aid to flood-hit Morocco

In response to the Emiri directives issued by the Emir, H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Qatar decided to send emergency aid to the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of Yemen, an official source at the Foreign Ministry told The View from Fez These Emiri directives express Qatar's solidarity with Yemen and Morocco in order to help them face effects of the flood that recently hit the Hadramout Province in Yemen and Oujda city in Morocco.

Aid operations swung into higher gear in Yemen yesterday after floods killed at least 58 people and six more died from lightning strikes during two days of fierce storms.

Rising death toll

The death toll from the torrential rains that hit some Moroccan cities over the past two days rose from the 13 we reported yesterday to 17, after 4 people, including a woman and a child, were killed in the eastern city of Oujda.

According to local sources, the four people - three aged between 60 and 80 and a 8-year-old schoolboy - were killed in Béni Oukil (16 km east of Oujda) following pouring rains that on Friday reached up to 70 mm in less than one hour.

In the province of Nador (northeast), 11 people had been killed and a person was injured, over Thursday and Friday, following the collapse of several houses. Floods also caused considerable material losses, with many homes either damaged or submerged.

Two people were also killed and a person was reported missing in the northern city of Tangiers, due to floodwaters that submerged several neighbourhoods, making roads impassable and forcing schools to close. The city's industrial zone "Mghougha" was the hardest hit, sustaining enormous damage.



Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news