CLEVELAND — People in Morocco slept in the streets of Marrakech for a third straight night as soldiers and international aid teams in trucks and helicopters began to fan into remote mountain towns hit hardest by a historic earthquake.
The disaster killed more than 2,100 people — a number that is expected to rise — and the United Nations estimated that 300,000 people were affected by Friday night's magnitude 6.8 quake.
Othmane Benafan is the President of the United Moroccan American Association of Cleveland, his mom and sister live in Morocco .
"This is close to my heart i have family there that thankfully are safe but i have a lot of family and friends that aren't."
And he can't help but think of those affected as he is safe with his own family. the earthquake struck and area very populated
"The affected area is a round Markisha everybody knows about Markisha it's a tourist destination. We have people on the ground we have members of the board on the ground in Morocco waiting for us to come up with this funds to help people impacted right away."
More than 2000 have lost their lives and the Moroccan government is saying there could be more. Benefan's group has set up a GoFundMe account to help his native Moroccans. He knows they can't raise millions, but they can raise money to help with the daily essentials.
It can be found by clicking the link HERE.
Back in Morocco
Amid offers from several countries, including the United States and France, Moroccan officials said Sunday that they are accepting international aid from just four countries: Spain, Qatar, Britain and the United Arab Emirates.
"The Moroccan authorities have carefully assessed the needs on the ground, bearing in mind that a lack of coordination in such cases would be counterproductive," the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
While some foreign search-and-rescue teams arrived on Sunday as an aftershock rattled Moroccans already in mourning and shock, other aid teams poised to deploy grew frustrated waiting for the government to officially request assistance.
"We know there is a great urgency to save people and dig under the remains of buildings," said Arnaud Fraisse, founder of Rescuers Without Borders, who had a team stuck in Paris waiting for the green light. "There are people dying under the rubble, and we cannot do anything to save them."
Help was slow to arrive in Amizmiz, where a whole chunk of the town of orange and red sandstone brick homes carved into a mountainside appeared to be missing. A mosque's minaret had collapsed.
"It's a catastrophe,'' said villager Salah Ancheu, 28. "We don't know what the future is. The aid remains insufficient."
Residents swept rubble off the main road into town and people cheered when trucks full of soldiers arrived. But they pleaded for more help.
"There aren't ambulances, there aren't police, at least for right now," Ancheu said, speaking about many parts of the region on Sunday morning.
Those left homeless — or fearing more aftershocks — slept outside Saturday, in the streets of the ancient city of Marrakech or under makeshift canopies in hard-hit Atlas Mountain towns like Moulay Brahim. Both there and in Amizmiz, residents worried most about the damage in hard-to-reach communities. The worst destruction was in rural communities that rely on unpaved roads that snake up the mountainous terrain covered by fallen rocks.
Those areas were shaken anew Sunday by a magnitude 3.9 aftershock, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It wasn't immediately clear if it caused more damage or casualties, but it was likely strong enough to rattle nerves in areas where damage has left buildings unstable and residents feared aftershocks.
In a region where many build bricks out of mud, Friday's earthquake toppled buildings not strong enough to withstand such a mighty temblor, trapping people in the rubble and sending others fleeing in terror. A total of 2,122 people were confirmed dead and at least 2,421 others were injured — 1,404 of them critically, the Interior Ministry reported.
Most of the dead — 1,351 — were in the Al Haouz district in the High Atlas Mountains, the ministry said.
Flags were lowered across Morocco, as King Mohammed VI ordered three days of national mourning starting Sunday. The army mobilized search and rescue teams, and the king ordered water, food rations and shelters to be sent to those who lost homes.
He also called for mosques to hold prayers Sunday for the victims, many of whom were buried Saturday amid the frenzy of rescue work nearby.