World Tour: Earthquake aftermath in Morocco

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: WORLD Tour with our reporter in Nigeria, Onize Ohikere.

AUDIO: [Rescue work]

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Morocco aftermath — Today’s roundup starts in Morocco where authorities and volunteers are still digging through rubble for survivors.

A 6.8-magnitude quake rattled the High Atlas Mountains—some 44 miles southwest of the Moroccan city of Marrakesh—on Friday. The tremors affected people in Marrakesh and other surrounding areas.

More than 2,800 people have died and more than 2,500 others are injured. Authorities continue to search for more survivors.

Morocco’s education ministry suspended lessons after the quake damaged nearly 600 schools. Many residents have slept outdoors for days, fearing aftershocks.

That’s what Asrir Abdessadeq decided to do.

ABDESSADEQ: All the people can only sleep here.

He says the earthquake destroyed all houses and that people are still sleeping outdoors in the cold.

Some communities have already started to bury the dead. Others are rushing to donate blood for the injured.

Morocco has deployed rescue crews and soldiers to the region to help. Aid groups say the government is only accepting limited help.

But they have accepted rescue teams and emergency aid from Spain, the U-K, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

AUDIO: [Rainfall]

Hong Kong flooding — We head over to Hong Kong where torrential rainfall has brought severe flooding.

Authorities shut down schools and businesses as the rains flooded some subway stations and turned streets into rivers.

Authorities reported at least two deaths and evacuated hundreds of people.

The rainfall is the heaviest Hong Kong has seen in more than a century.

Eli—a marine industry worker in Hong Kong—said the rainfall disrupted his travel plans.

ELI: The water was about a meter in the middle of the road so no chance.

Across the border, China’s southern city of Shenzhen also recorded its heaviest rainfall since 1952.

The rainfall came about a week after two typhoons drenched China and prompted a citywide shutdown in Hong Kong.

AUDIO: [Floodwaters]

In Libya’s northeastern city of Derna, deadly flooding had killed more than 2,300 people. Authorities expect the toll to rise as more than 10,000 people remain missing.

UN-migrant deaths — Next, to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

VOLKER TURK: Mr. President…

UN human rights chief, Volker Turk, highlighted migrant deaths in the English Channel, the Caribbean, at the U.S.-Mexican border, and also along the Saudi border, where a rights group reported mistreatment of Ethiopian refugees.

TURK: I'm shocked by the nonchalance that becomes apparent in the face of 2,300 people reported dead or missing in the Mediterranean this year, including the loss of more than 600 lives in a single shipwreck off Greece in June.

On Sunday, a France-based nonprofit rescued nearly 70 migrants from a double-decker wooden boat that had departed from Libya.

AUDIO: [Chanting women]

Chile anniversary — We close today in Chile, with more than 1,500 women holding burning candles outside the presidential palace and chanting “never again.”

The Sunday march marked the 50th anniversary of the military coup that gave rise to Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, which lasted 17 years.

Pinchet’s security forces killed or forcibly disappeared more than 3,000 people.

Many of the women were family members of some of the victims.

Griselda Morena attended the march.

MORENA: [Speaking Spanish]

She says here that the ‘never again’ march is pushing for Chileans to never suffer through a coup, persecution, or torture again.

AUDIO: [Police/protesters clash]

Ahead of the march, protesters clashed with police outside the presidential palace in a procession that turned violent.

Authorities arrested at least 11 people. Chilean President Gabriel Boric, who was at the procession earlier in the day, condemned the violence.

Boric’s government launched a National Search Plan ahead of the anniversary to actively trace people who disappeared during the regime.

That’s it for this week’s World Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere in Abuja, Nigeria.

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