Morocco: Earthquake turns mountain village to field of boulders

There is little hope of finding anyone alive in what is left of their village – before the quake Douzrou had nearly 1,000 inhabitants.

But most homes collapsed when the earthquake struck late on Friday, burying part of this hillside community in the ruins of nature’s rage.

It has left a vast, perilous field of strewn boulders, mud bricks and timber.

Experts say such traditional materials leave fewer chances for air pockets or spaces in which people can survive after buildings collapse.

More than 100 people were killed in the village, according to residents.

The people who are left, exhausted from shock, have to work out how to find shelter and keep their families fed.

The British rescuers speak with a village elder and make their way off the rubble mountain, as their search dog stays by their side.

“Colin is an experienced dog – he was in Turkey earlier this year,” says Neil Woodmansey from the UK International Search and Rescue Team (ISAR). He is referring to February’s devastating earthquake in northern Syria and southern Turkey, which killed nearly 60,000 people.