Dream - Wednesday, September 12, 2023. In the village of Ouirgane in the High Atlas Mountains, Morocco, residents gather around a pile of rubble near the house of a mother and daughter buried underneath. Like many mountain communities, the village of Ouirgane has suffered significant losses due to the earthquake that struck Morocco on Friday night, September 8, 2023. Buildings in the village have been destroyed, and most of the residents are now sleeping in tents or have left the area. Police and rescue workers have informed that more than 30 people have died here. The cemetery is filled with new graves covered in branches. For now, all the villagers are focused on the two missing women: Fatima and Hajar.

They live on the ground floor of a three-story building in the middle of the village. The building is now leaning to one side and surrounded by piles of rubble, as well as small traces of life that are now destroyed: teapots, Disney backpacks for children, and flower-patterned scarves. A crowd of people gathers around the building and prays for good news, while rescue workers use tracking dogs to search for signs of life. Residents say they will not leave until Fatima and Hajar are found, alive or dead. "In our culture, we eat from the same plate. We share food and share plates. We are a family," said one man, while the people around him nodded in agreement.

"They are our sisters," said another person. ***Among the crowd, there is Fatima's sister-in-law, Khadijah, who lives on the top two floors of the building. She was in Marrakesh when the earthquake happened. She told the BBC that Fatima's husband was pulled out of the rubble but later died. Meanwhile, her young son was taken to the hospital after spending hours trapped in the wreckage. She said that Fatima, 40 years old, and Hajar, 17 years old, have "similar characteristics," describing them as "peaceful" individuals."

"Fatima never argued with anyone or had problems with anyone," she said. "Hajar will be alone. She is shy. She is studying and is one of the best students." However, the hope of finding them alive is very small and fading over time. Later that evening, a body was found. Rescue workers moved slowly and carefully as they extracted the corpse from the rubble and placed it on an orange stretcher, covering it with a blanket. It was Hajar, they said."

They lifted the stretcher and carried it through the road towards the open field in front of the local cemetery. The crowd followed earnestly behind. After the body was bathed, the stretcher was placed on the ground, and the men lined up behind it. And then they prayed. After the burial, the crowd returned to the building, waiting for news about Fatima. No one who was spoken to now had hope of finding her alive, but they said it was important for her body to be found.

"All the people who were underground here have been brought out - alive or dead. Only Fatima remains," said a man. "I cannot eat, I cannot sleep, I cannot drink until we retrieve Fatima from underground. The whole village needs to evacuate its bodies. It must be done today, not tomorrow," said another man as he walked back from the cemetery. Fatima's neighbor, Said, also expressed the same sentiment. "We cannot do anything until we retrieve her body. Oh God, just let it be today." Among the crowd was rescue worker Mohamed Khoutari, who was taking a break after days of searching in the ruins."

Among the crowd was rescue officer Mohamed Khoutari, who was taking a moment of rest after days of searching in the rubble. "When we started, we thought maybe they were still alive, but as time went on, we realized that was not possible," he told me. "There were no signs of life - no movement, no sound." However, he said the workers had to make the same effort in retrieving the bodies as finding survivors. "I can't leave until we find Fatima," he said. As night fell, blankets were given to the search team, and with a soft murmur among the crowd, word spread that Fatima's body had been found.

He was moved to a stretcher when the call to prayer echoed through the mountains. Khadijah sobbed, and was supported by her family members. The villagers followed the stretcher along the road towards the cemetery. When the funeral was over, they returned to the emergency tent, and those who had traveled from outside to help got into cars and left. The streets became quiet. However, there are still questions about how Ouirgane and other affected communities can move forward. "I never imagined seeing my neighbor being pulled out of the ground like this," said Said.

Meanwhile, far away from the first place, on a narrow road in the village of Moulay Brahim, in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, a house lies across the street in a pile of sandy ruins. The building is mostly unrecognizable as it once was, except for a secluded room stranded on the ruins, and the blue paint on its walls that is still visible. Abderahim Imni, with his hands wrapped in bandages from the stones that fell during the devastating earthquake that occurred on Friday, leads the cleaning of the road where his house once stood.

The 43-year-old electrician was sleeping in the remaining part of his house with three other family members when the surrounding buildings collapsed during a series of powerful tremors that hit the village just after 11:00 pm. He admitted that it was a lucky escape. "I felt the house shaking. For a moment, we were buried under the rubble, but only for a moment and then we managed to escape," he said. "However, it wasn't easy. There was no electricity and the air was filled with dust. You couldn't see. My heart was pounding like a heart attack." In the suffocating darkness, Abderahim and his family members stumbled down the cliff of debris and escaped to the nearby park where they spent the night.

Family and their neighbors in this village with a population of 3,000 souls are still at peace with the death and destruction that suddenly befell them. In the heart of this poor rural village, located on a steep mountain slope, almost no building has escaped damage. Some houses, like Abderahim's house, have been destroyed. Others are left standing but their upper floors are now dangerously bending over the narrow road, threatened to collapse due to their own weight. However, the worst impact is on human life. The residents of Moulay Brahim said that 25 people have died here, among more than 2,900 people known to have died so far in the earthquake zone.

Immediately after the disaster occurred, the villagers dug out the living and dead victims from the ruins using the simplest tools, providing first aid to the survivors until the ambulance could reach the village. The landslide blocking the road must be cleared first. "I fell asleep when the earthquake happened," said Fatna Bechar. "I couldn't escape because the roof collapsed on me. I was trapped. I was saved by my neighbor who cleared the debris with bare hands. Now, I live with them in their house because my house was completely destroyed."

On the main road at the top end of the village, a coffin containing a mother and her daughter, two out of four family members who died when their house collapsed, was loaded into an ambulance on Sunday morning to be taken to the nearest hospital. As the bodies were being loaded, a group of crying relatives surrounded the vehicle, shouting the names of the deceased victims. Standing nearby, Oumizane Lahoucine, 56 years old, described the moment the earth shook and he ran to seek shelter on the road. "It lasted for six seconds," he recalled, wearing a dusty suit and long pants. "It felt like we were being bombed."

In the main road at the top end of the village, a coffin containing a mother and her daughter, two out of four family members who died when their house collapsed, was loaded into an ambulance on Sunday morning to be taken to the nearest hospital. As the bodies were being loaded, a group of crying relatives surrounded the vehicle, shouting the names of the deceased victims. Standing nearby, Oumizane Lahoucine, 56 years old, described the moment the earth shook and he ran for shelter in the street. "It lasted for six seconds," he recalled, with a dusty stained suit and trousers. "It felt like we were being bombed."

Behind the blue painted door, the stairs leading to the upper floor are blocked by fallen rocks. The walls of each room are cracked. One side of the house has been pushed onto the street outside. Although food distribution and international rescue teams managed to reach the village on Sunday, the Moroccan military, whose helicopters were seen flying over the mountains from the village, has not yet arrived, and is currently tasked with assisting more remote villages that have even suffered more severe damage. So the residents of Moulay Brahim village are mostly helping themselves, digging their way out from under the ruins, as figures emerge from the door carrying bundles of beds and clothes to their sleeping places in the open, shivering through the cool mountain night.

Although the scenery on the road to Moulay Brahim seems to depict random destruction, some cities barely experienced any damage while other villages were severely impacted. There is a grim logic that explains why some buildings collapsed while others remained standing. A 6.8 magnitude Richter scale earthquake, which shook cities from Marrakesh to the coastal areas, damaged most of the old houses made of clay bricks and wooden beams in impoverished rural communities, while newer concrete structures were able to withstand better.

For those who survived the first earthquake, the pressing question now is when meaningful assistance will reach them and what is involved in it. Although camping tents are starting to appear in several locations around and along the main road closer to the coast, shelter has not reached Moulay Brahim on Sunday. Among those sleeping in the open air is Moulay Ali Azouad, sitting with his family on the edge of one of the village's main roads. They have taken out mattresses and blankets from their damaged home immediately after the disaster, but they say they are afraid to go back again to get more and warmer clothes.

"The earthquake occurred around 23.55 at night," said Moulay Ali. "The ground started shaking. At first, the tremor was small and then 10 more shocks came very quickly. We all immediately ran out of the house and have stayed outside since then." He pointed to a rocky road across the street. "Women sleep there, and men sleep here, on the sidewalk," he said. "The only assistance we have received so far is from Moroccan relatives living abroad who sent money for food. However, we need clothes, bedding, and shelter because it is cold here at night." Only now the villagers are starting to wonder about the future and who will rebuild their destroyed village."

"Kami menunggu pemerintah memberikan bantuan yang kami butuhkan dan memberi tahu kami apa yang akan terjadi," kata Abderahim Imni sambil mengawasi sebuah batu besar yang dipindahkan dari jalurnya. Hingga saat itu tiba, penduduk desa Moulay Brahim akan terus menunggu.***Setelah gempa bumi dahsyat yang melanda wilayah Al Haouz di Maroko pada Jumat lalu, kisah memilukan juga berasal dari tiga gadis yang dipaksa menjadi yatim piatu. Mereka berusia antara 5 dan 10 tahun. Nasib tragis mereka telah menarik perhatian masyarakat Maroko secara nasional. Jiwa-jiwa tak berdosa ini kehilangan seluruh keluarganya dalam bencana alam yang dahsyat, meninggalkan mereka menjadi yatim piatu dan sendirian, tanpa keluarga besar yang merawat mereka."

The tragic story was revealed through an emotional video that went viral on social media. Deeply touched by the suffering experienced by these two sisters, a local resident documented their story and shared it with the world. The video tells a heartbreaking tale of how the girls lost their entire family, leaving them alone and vulnerable. According to the local narrator in the video, the family lived peacefully by the river until a sudden and devastating flood occurred, claiming the lives of their entire family except for their son.

His surviving son made the decision to move to the mountains, where he built a house. He then started his own family and had three daughters. However, tragedy struck the family again when an earthquake hit the Al Haouz region, taking the lives of their parents and leaving the three daughters orphaned and their fate shattered. The heartbreaking video quickly went viral, sparking sympathy and love from the people of Morocco nationwide. The news of this family's suffering touched the hearts of many, and people began expressing their desire to support the orphaned girls. Some even stated their readiness to adopt the siblings.

The tragic earthquake caused massive destruction in the region, killing nearly 3,000 people and injuring over 5,000 people. This sad story feels like it will never end. Rest in peace, victims of the Morocco earthquake. Your story is eternal and will always be remembered. (eha)Source: BBC, Guardian, Morocco World News, Time, CNN.