Units from the Spanish Military Emergency Unit (UME), firefighters, civil guards, and national police who were dispatched to Morocco to collaborate in search and rescue operations for survivors of the devastating earthquake that struck the country’s central region nine days ago have begun their return to Spain.
In total, 112 individuals and 22 search and rescue dogs participated in the efforts following the powerful earthquake, which measured 7 on the Richter scale and resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people and injuries to over 5,000.
Sources within the deployed operation informed the Spanish news agency EFE that fifty soldiers from the Military Emergency Unit have returned on a flight on Sunday, and teams from the Civil Guard and National Police are expected to return alongside the search and rescue dogs on Monday.
It is also likely that the thirty members of the Emergency and Immediate Response Special Unit from the Madrid community (ERIECAM) will return in the coming hours.
Before their withdrawal, the Spanish teams received a thank-you message from King Mohammed VI, which was delivered via helicopter to their base in Amzmiz city, located at the foothills of the Atlas Mountains and severely affected by the earthquake.
The message directed to the head of the Spanish unit, Captain Juan Saldana, was read in Spanish to the Spanish personnel at the coordination center in Amzmiz by Enrique Pascuas, the head of the rescue team. It was also read in Arabic to the Moroccan personnel present at the scene by an official from the Moroccan Civil Protection.
“I have been deeply affected, as has the entire Moroccan people, by the active and effective participation of your rescue team alongside their Moroccan brothers, who have spared no effort or resources in search and rescue operations,” said the message read by the Spanish captain.
In the message, King Mohammed VI expressed his “great pride and appreciation for this generous participation, which embodies the strong fraternal bonds and solidarity that unite the Spanish and Moroccan peoples.”
“I pray to God that my gratitude and the gratitude of the entire Moroccan people reach all the components of the Spanish team, who have shown selflessness, deep feelings of sincere friendship, and effective solidarity toward this country, their second homeland,” his Majesty added.