Moulay Brahim, Morocco
CNN
—
Moulay Brahim was once a happy place for Sami Sensis. The village is located high in the Moroccan Atlas Mountains, and its scenery, the fresh air, the friendly people drew his parents there nearly every summer.
Now they are buried somewhere under the rubble of their hotel on the edge of what remains of the village.
The building partially collapsed after a powerful earthquake struck Moulay Brahim late on Friday night. The epicenter of the 6.8-magnitude earthquake was not far from the village that lies about two hours southwest of Marrakech.
The quake, the strongest to hit Morocco in more than 120 years, killed more than 2,000 people. Many others remain missing.
Local officials told CNN that 25 people were killed in the village. Three people – including Sensis’ mother and father – were still missing as of Sunday afternoon.
Sensis, 39, was getting increasingly desperate and frustrated. “I cannot even bury them. I can’t see them, I don’t know where they are,” he said as his voice cracked with emotion and anger.
His phone has not stopped ringing for two days. Relatives and friends keep calling, constantly asking him for updates. But he doesn’t have any news to share. The site has become too unstable and dangerous and the local fire brigade has ordered residents out of the area, halting the search for those missing.
View this interactive content on CNN.com
“Nothing is happening. We are just waiting. They decided to do nothing. They are just telling us to be patient, making promises,” Sensis said, adding that he also tried to go inside the collapsed building to search for his parents.
The hotel’s owner, Idsaleh Mahjoub, confirmed to CNN that Sensis’ parents were at the hotel when the quake hit. Their names were on his register, and he recognized them in photos Sensis showed him.
Locals have managed to pull six people out of the hotel’s rubble, all of them alive, Mahjoub said.
“But the others, we were not able to do anything,” he said. “We went to inform the governor about those that were trapped and every time he tells us that they will come and take them out. Today they came to scout the area, and then left to grab their equipment.”
Morocco’s Interior Ministry said Sunday that after assessing the needs, it decided to respond to offers of help from several foreign governments, including “Spain, Qatar, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, which suggested mobilizing a group of search and rescue teams.”
Ammar Awad/Reuters
Ait Abdellah Brahim, 86, sits in rubble in Talat N'Yaaqoub, Morocco, on Saturday, September 16.
Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images
People wait to receive assistance in their village between the cities of Marrakech and Taroudant on Sunday, September 17.
Emilie Madi/Reuters
An elderly woman is surrounded by tents at the Regraga camp in Amizmiz, Morocco, on September 17.
Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images
A crushed car is buried in rubble by the side of the road between Marrakech and Taroudant on September 16.
Ammar Awad/Reuters
Muslims attend Friday prayers in Talat N'Yaaqoub on September 15.
Ammar Awad/Reuters
Hammou Baha Ali, 80, searches for his belongings in Talat N'Yaaqoub on September 15.
Carl Court/Getty Images
Collapsed buildings surround a mosque in Ighil, Morocco, on Thursday, September 14.
Sou Harris/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
The Moroccan Civil Defense Institution provides water for earthquake victims as search-and-rescue operations continue in Talat N'Yaaqoub on Wednesday, September 13.
Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images
Rescue workers carry a body from a damaged house in Imi N'Tala, a village near Amizmiz, on September 13.
Nacho Doce/Reuters
An earthquake survivor lies in bed at a field hospital in Asni, Morocco, on September 13.
Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images
Volunteers distribute relief goods to earthquake victims near Adassil, Morocco, on September 13.
Jalal Morchidi/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
A man hugs a member of a civil protection team as it prepares to recover bodies in Imi N'Tala on September 13.
Ashley Chan/SOPA/Sipa/AP
These photos were found in the rubble of Talat N'Yaaqoub on Tuesday, September 12.
Hannah McKay/Reuters
An injured earthquake survivor is taken to a hospital in Talat N'Yaaqoub on September 12.
Ximena Borrazas/SOPA/Sipa/AP
Rescuers dig through rubble in Imi N'Tala on September 12.
Nathan Laine/Bloomberg/Getty Images
A doctor treats a patient at a military hospital in Asni on September 12.
Nacho Doce/Reuters
A crowd watches firefighters work in Talat N'Yaaqoub on September 12.
Carl Court/Getty Images
A woman sits amid the rubble in Douzrou, Morocco, on September 11.
Alejandro Martinez Velez/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Search-and-rescue operations continue in Talat N'Yaaqoub on September 11.
Hannah McKay/Reuters
A woman and a child rest in Tinmel, Morocco, on September 11.
Carl Court/Getty Images
A man is overcome with grief as the body of his 30-year old son is removed from a collapsed house in Douzrou on September 11.
Hannah McKay/Reuters
Rescue workers carry a body in Talat N'yaaqoub on September 11.
Hannah McKay/Reuters
Mouath Aytnasr walks in his damaged house on the outskirts of Talat N'Yaaqoub on September 11. He lost his 7-year-old brother, Suleiman, in the earthquake.
Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP
A donkey stands inside a damaged building in Tafeghaghte, Morocco, on September 11.
Abu Adem Muhammed/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Bags of blood sit on a table at a blood center in Marrakech on September 11.
Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images
People walk along an alleyway filled with rubble in the Old City district of Marrakech on September 11.
Kyodo News via Getty Images
Women look up at the damaged Kharbouch Mosque in Marrakech on September 10.
Wang Dongzhen/Xinhua via Getty Images
Rescuers carry a victim's body in Amizmiz on September 10.
Alejandro Martinez Velez/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Women mourn in the village of Moulay Brahim on September 10.
Hannah McKay/Reuters
People attend the funeral of two victims in Moulay Brahim on September 10. The mountain village and others like it were
severely impacted by the earthquake, and their location has made it difficult to deliver aid.
Nacho Doce/Reuters
Emergency workers search a destroyed building in Amizmiz on September 10.
Hannah McKay/Reuters
Women watch the funeral of two victims in Moulay Brahim on September 10.
Piero Cruciatti/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
People inspect collapsed buildings in Marrakech on September 10.
Carl Court/Getty Images
People take shelter in a Marrakech park on September 9.
Nacho Doce/Reuters
A man stands near his damaged house in Moulay Brahim on September 9.
Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images
Members of the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces carry a body in Tafeghaghte on September 9.
Abdelhak Balhaki/Reuters
A damaged room in the village of Tansghart on September 9.
Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images
People mourn victims in Moulay Brahim on September 9.
Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images
The minaret of a mosque stands behind damaged houses in Moulay Brahim on September 9.
Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images
A Marrakech resident navigates through the rubble on September 9.
Abdelhak Balhaki/Reuters
Rescue workers search through rubble in Amizmiz on September 9.
Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images
A woman stands in front of her earthquake-damaged house in Marrakech on September 9.
Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP
People inspect damaged homes in Moulay Brahim on September 9.
Abdelhak Balhaki/Reuters
A damaged vehicle sits in a street in Marrakech on September 9.
Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images
A resident looks at a damaged building in Marrakesh on September 9.
Like many other villages in the area, Moulay Brahim is hard to get to. The roads are narrow and windy, and some are partially obstructed by huge boulders that rolled down the steep hills during the earthquake.
Further up the mountains, some roads remain completely impassable, even 48 hours after the earthquake, according to the authorities.
The difficult access to the vast earthquake-hit area has hampered aid delivery efforts. While emergency camps have been set up in some places, people in other inaccessible areas have been left to fend for themselves.
In a village not far from the town of Asni, further up from Moulay Brahim, the first official government aid arrived on Sunday morning. In this settlement of 2,000, almost everyone has lost their home.
Dozens of bright yellow tents now provide shelter to people whose houses were rendered uninhabitable in the quake.
Ivana Kottasová/CNN
The village of Moulay Brahim near the town of Asni has been almost completely destroyed, with the vast majority of homes uninhabitable.
The tents provided little relief from the hot afternoon sun on Sunday.
But the heat did little to stop Leila Idabdelah. With her baby strapped to her back, Idabdelah was making khobz – a traditional Moroccan flatbread – to feed those affected.
Not being able to rely on official help, the locals have self-organized and are sharing resources. Idabdelah oversaw the bread oven and had made several dozen loafs since the morning.
Idabdelah told CNN she and her family of five were asleep when the quake hit on Friday. When they scrambled to their feet and tried to run outside, they realized that the violent shaking had damaged their house and jammed the door and windows.
“Our neighbors saved us. They came and freed the door and helped us outside,” she said.
She told CNN she was unable to think about how long would take for her family to have a solid roof over their heads. The tents aren’t great, but they are a huge improvement compared to the first night after the earthquake, when the family slept on the floor in an open space outside.
In Moulay Brahim, there are no official tents. People are still sleeping out in the open streets or on a football field nearby.
Many are exhausted and heartbroken, and emotions are running high. At one point on Sunday afternoon, a scuffle broke out on the street not far from where Sensis was waiting to hear from the authorities.
With each passing hour, the chances of anyone being pulled out of the rubble alive are disappearing.
Ivana Kottasová/CNN
Leila Idabdelah (R) makes bread for her neighbors in a tent near her destroyed village on Sunday, September 10.
Late on Sunday evening, the body of Sensis’ mother was finally recovered from the rubble. His father remains missing.
Hours before, Sensis told CNN he had lost all hope his parents might still be alive. But when speaking of them, he was still referring to them in present tense.
“I can’t imagine my baby (growing up) without his grandparents, he loves them,” Sensis said. “He is always saying: “I want to go to (grandma and grandpa), I want to go to (grandma and grandpa).”“