Since she was evacuated from the rubble of her village in the High Atlas after the earthquake of September 8, Malika has had no news from her husband and her eldest son. A team of “Special Envoy” accompanied her to Imi N’Tala, of which only ruins remain.
Two days after the earthquake which devastated part of Morocco, journalists from “Envoyé Spécial” were in Amizmiz, 20 kilometers from the epicenter. Among other mountain villagers looking for a doctor was a young woman with her baby in her arms. Malika, 30, and her son Ilyès were evacuated just after the earthquake.
Since she emerged from the rubble, Malika has not heard from her husband, Moustapha, and her other 8-year-old son, Anouar. She assumes both are dead. When she decides to go up to the village to try to find out more, the journalists from “Envoyé Spécial” offer to accompany her with their translator, Samir.
A section of cliff crushed the village
To reach Imi N’Tala, 16 kilometers away, you have to go deep into the High Atlas mountains. This is where the earthquake caused the most damage. Arrival at destination, Malika discovers her village on land: Imi N’Tala has almost disappeared. On the night of Friday September 8 to Saturday September 9, the shock was so strong that the mountain broke. A section of cliff weighing several thousand tons crushed the houses, including Malika’s. “When I was underneath, she says, I scratched to breathe, to find a little air hole so that my son and I could breathe.”
From a neighbor, she learned that Moustapha could not be saved: he was alive when the villagers found him, but as soon as he drank a little water, he died. For Anouar, we don’t know… Those who survived here and whom Malika meets have also lost one or more loved ones, whose body they have still not seen. With her baby, the young woman is a miracle…
Excerpt from “The Tears of the Atlas”, a broadcast report in “Special Envoy” on September 14, 2023.
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