The Prime Minister stressed today that Portugal has civil protection and forensic medicine teams in a state of readiness to support Morocco and that the government continues to monitor the situation of the Portuguese who are in that country.
António Costa was speaking to journalists after having lunch with Portuguese business investors in Chile and having met this morning with the President of Mexico, Lopez Obrador.
The provisional toll from the earthquake that struck Morocco on Friday night has risen to 2,122 dead and 2,421 injured.
“We have already made the Kingdom of Morocco fully aware of Portugal’s willingness to participate in any support it deems necessary. So far, we haven’t been asked for any support, but we have it available, both in the area of civil protection and forensic medicine. We have teams that are in a state of readiness to support the Kingdom of Morocco if there is any request to do so,” said the Prime Minister.
Speaking to journalists, António Costa said that “from the outset, the government expressed its sympathy to the King of Morocco, to the Moroccan people and to all those who have bereaved families”.
He then noted that, on Saturday, Portugal carried out an operation to transfer nationals who were in Morocco and had expressed their intention to return.
“During the night, an Air Force plane evacuated around 140 Portuguese who were in Morocco and decided to return to Portugal. We are continuing to monitor the situation of the Portuguese in Morocco. Those who want to return will be supported, but those who want to stay are obviously free to remain,” he added.
The earthquake, whose epicenter was in the town of Ighil, 63 kilometers southwest of the city of Marrakech, was felt in Portugal and Spain and reached a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale, according to Morocco’s National Geophysics Institute.
