The new death toll of the powerful 7-magnitude earthquake that hit Morocco, on Friday at 11.11 p.m., reached 2,497, in addition to 2,476 injured, according to an update by the Interior Ministry on Monday (until 10 a.m.).
The new deaths were recorded in Al Haouz (1,452), Taroudant (764), Chichaoua (202), and Marrakech (18).
No further fatalities were reported in Ouarzazate, Azilal, Agadir, Greater Casablanca, Youssoufia and Tinghir.
King Mohammed VI is expected to visit the disaster-stricken central regions on Monday. Upon his landing in Morocco on Saturday, after cutting short a private visit to France, the King convened in Rabat an emergency meeting to assess the damage that the Al Haouz area had suffered.
The sovereign had ordered the military to urgently deploy important human and logistical resources, and air and land special intervention units to assist the populations that were affected by the earthquake. The sovereign had also instructed the military to set up a medical-surgical field hospital to offer onsite medical care.
Qatar, Spain, the UAE and the UK had already dispatched special intervention units, and search and rescue teams to help with relief efforts in Morocco.