Foreign rescuers join Morocco quake race against time

Rescuers race against time to find survivors in Morocco's quake-hit villages. Foreign teams join Moroccans in search for signs of life in rubble. Citizens donate blood, volunteers organize food and essential goods. Schools suspended in worst-hit villages, UN pays tribute to victims.

Moroccan rescuers supported by newly-arrived foreign teams on Monday faced an intensifying race against time to dig out any survivors from the rubble of mountain villages, on the third day after the country's strongest-ever earthquake.

The 6.8-magnitude quake struck the Atlas mountains late on Friday southwest of the tourist centre of Marrakesh. It killed almost 2,500 people and injured a similar number, according to the latest official toll.

In the disaster-stricken community of Talat Nyacoub, 12 ambulances and several dozen 4X4s from the Army and police were deployed while around 100 Moroccan rescuers were searching for signs of life amid the collapsed buildings.

Nearby, AFP saw a Spanish team of 30 firefighters, a doctor, nurse and two technicians coordinating with Moroccan authorities before starting to dig, as a helicopter flew overhead.

"The big difficulty is in zones remote and difficult to access, like here, but the injured are choppered out," Annika Coll, who heads the Spanish team, told AFP.

About 70 km north, another Spanish team from the Military Emergencies Unit (UME) had set up camp since Sunday night on the edge of Amizmiz village.

Albert Vasquez, the unit's communications officer, said his team was awaiting a meeting with Moroccan civil defence to determine exactly where they were needed.