Russ Gauden, head of the British relief team, who arrived at Marrakech-Menara international airport on Sunday night to contribute to the relief efforts led by Moroccan authorities following the Al Haouz earthquake, stressed that his team will work closely with Moroccan coordination teams.
"What we expect when we arrive is to work closely with the coordination teams and provide support with our expertise to save as many people that we can that are alive," Gauden told the press, following the landing of two British Royal Air Force A400M aircraft.
Expressing his sincere condolences and solidarity with the families of the victims and the Moroccan people, Gauden noted that his team is in Morocco "to support the ongoing rescue efforts.”
“We've been liaising with colleagues already in country here, we know the hard work that is going on,” he said.
For his part, the UK Ambassador to Morocco, Simon Martin, praised the ongoing "heroic" search and rescue efforts in Morocco, underlining that it is “an honor and a privilege” to have the opportunity to support these efforts with the arrival of a British search and rescue team, who will be working very closely with the Moroccan coordinating authorities.
This illustrates “the very close relationship between our two countries,” he added.
Search and rescue teams from Spain, the UK and Qatar are currently deployed alongside Moroccan rescue teams in the disaster zones.
The offers of support and aid made by the various friendly and brotherly countries are based on a precise assessment of needs on the ground by the Moroccan authorities.
The earthquake, which struck several regions of Morocco on Friday evening, provoked a great outpouring of solidarity, particularly on the part of several heads of state, government and international institutions, who expressed their condolences and solidarity with the Kingdom and the Moroccan people.
Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse