King Mohammed VI is expected to arrive Monday in the central city of Marrakech and Al Haouz region, the hardest hit by a 7-magnitude earthquake that rocked Morocco on Friday night, informed sources have reported.
So far, the massive quake claimed 2,122 lives, in addition to 2,421 injured.
The sovereign had ordered the military forces to urgently deploy human and logistical resources, and air and land special intervention units, including search and rescue teams, to assist the affected populations. He also instructed the military to set up a medical-surgical field hospital to offer onsite medical care.
As soon as the King landed in Morocco on Saturday, after cutting short a private visit to France, he convened in Rabat an emergency meeting to assess the damage that the central regions had suffered.
The King had ordered setting up an inter-ministerial committee to conduct reconstruction operations, providing care for the homeless, orphans and other people in precarious situations, encouraging local stakeholders to resume economic activities in the quake-hit regions, and opening a special account with the Treasury and the central bank (Bank Al Maghrib) for collecting funds.
Rescue efforts are intensifying with the backup of foreign countries as Spain, Qatar and Israel. Teams are racing time to reach inaccessible, remote villages in the outskirts of Marrakech.