Wedding hall shelters Moroccans from deadly earthquake

• A wedding celebration in Morocco turned into a source of safety during a devastating earthquake.
• The earthquake was the deadliest in Morocco since 1960, claiming over 2,900 lives.
• Community events like the pre-wedding celebration played a crucial role in saving lives in these villages.

A wedding celebration in the Moroccan village of Kettou unexpectedly turned into a source of safety during a devastating earthquake that rocked the region, causing the deaths of nearly 3,000 people in the country.

The joyful event, hosted by the bride’s family, became a protective refuge, ensuring that no residents were trapped when the earthquake struck and destroyed their homes made of stone and mud bricks.

Habiba Ajdir, a 22-year-old, was about to marry Mohammed Boudad, a 30-year-old apple farmer. However, as per tradition, the bride’s family organized a pre-wedding party the night before the wedding ceremony.

A video captured the moment when the 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit, transitioning from scenes of musicians in traditional attire playing flutes and handheld goatskin drums to chaos, darkness, and the sound of terrified screams.

Boudad, standing alongside his wife nearly four days after the earthquake, recalled how fear gripped him as he worried about both her village and his own. He described their meeting as a twist of fate. However, Ajdir, traumatized by the earthquake, was too shaken to interact with strangers.

While the impoverished village of Ighil Ntalghoumt was left in ruins, with many residents now homeless, it was fortunate that there were no reported casualties or serious injuries, unlike other areas near the epicenter of the quake.

This earthquake was the deadliest in Morocco since 1960, claiming over 2,900 lives, primarily in remote settlements in the High Atlas mountain range south of Marrakech.

The video captured the panic and chaos that unfolded during the quake, with people calling out for loved ones as electric lighting was replaced by the pinpoints of light from mobile phones.

Remarkably, only one person in Ighil Ntalghoumt, an eight-year-old boy named Ahmed Ait Ali Oubella, was injured when a rock fell on his head.

Despite the disaster, Ajdir traveled to Kettou on Saturday, accompanied by Boudad’s brother and his wife, who had attended the pre-wedding party. They had to walk due to impassable roads, and upon arrival, they found widespread damage but no fatalities.

Community events like the pre-wedding celebration and a funeral in an intact house played a crucial role in saving lives in these villages. However, the residents of Ighil Ntalghoumt still needed assistance, and some were observed trekking down the mountain to seek help from authorities.

The contrast was stark just a few kilometers away, where the village of Tikekhte had been nearly completely destroyed, with no houses left standing and a tragic loss of 68 lives out of the village’s 400 inhabitants.

The resilience and unity displayed by these communities in the face of disaster are a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the bonds formed during challenging times.

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