TAFEGHAGHTE: Moroccans are in mourning as the death toll from a devastating earthquake that struck the country has surpassed 2,000 people. The earthquake, the strongest ever recorded in the nation, had a magnitude of 6.8 and struck 72 kilometers (45 miles) southwest of Marrakesh. It led to the destruction of entire villages in rural areas.

According to the latest official figures, at least 2,012 people have died, and more than 2,059 have been injured, many of them critically. Rescue teams are working tirelessly to locate survivors trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings.

Lahcen, a resident of the mountain village of Moulay Brahim, expressed his devastation, having lost his wife and four children. While the bodies of his three daughters have been recovered, his wife and son are still missing. He said, "I can't do anything about it now; I just want to get away from the world and mourn."

Rescue efforts are focused on reaching remote mountain villages where people are feared to be trapped. Al-Haouz province, the earthquake's epicenter, has reported the highest number of deaths at 1,293, followed by the province of Taroudant with 452.

Authorities have declared three days of national mourning, and several countries, including Israel, France, Spain, Italy, and the United States, have offered aid. Neighboring Algeria, despite rocky relations with Morocco, has reopened its airspace for flights carrying humanitarian aid and the injured, ending a two-year closure.

The Red Cross has warned that repairing the damage caused by the earthquake could take years. Hossam Elsharkawi, the organization's Middle East and North Africa director, stated, "It won't be a matter of a week or two... We are counting on a response that will take months, if not years."

This earthquake is the deadliest in Morocco since the 1960 quake that destroyed Agadir, claiming the lives of nearly 15,000 people, which was a third of the city's population at the time.