<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">The death toll from a powerful earthquake in Morocco has soared to more than 2,000, with a similar number of injured.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The interior ministry says more than 1,400 have serious injuries, and the heaviest casualties are in provinces just south of Marrakesh.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">King Mohammed VI declared three days of national mourning and ordered shelter, food and other help for survivors.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Many people are spending a second night out in the open.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The magnitude 6.8 quake hit Marrakesh and many towns on Friday night. In remote mountain areas, entire villages are reported to have been flattened.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The epicentre was in the High Atlas Mountains, 71km (44 miles) south-west of Marrakesh - a city with world heritage status which is popular with tourists.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But the tremors were also felt in the capital Rabat, some 350km away, as well as Casablanca, Agadir and Essaouira.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The interior ministry says Al Haouz province has the highest death toll, followed by Taroudant province. There are far fewer deaths in Marrakesh, though the Unesco-protected old city has suffered considerable damage.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is believed that many simple mud brick, stone and timber homes in mountain villages will have collapsed, but the scale of devastation in remote areas will take some time to assess.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When he arrived in one such village, BBC reporter Nick Beake says, an elderly woman was wailing as 18 bodies had been recovered in that one place.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Many people are camping out for the night there, he says, as they fear aftershocks. They say they are desperately short of food and water. But such places are hard to reach, with mountain roads strewn with rocks and other debris, making access difficult for the emergency services.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Flags will be at half-mast on all public buildings in the country for the next three days, the royal palace said in a statement.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The king ordered the armed forces to assist rescue teams, and Moroccans are donating blood as part of the national effort to help victims.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was Morocco's deadliest earthquake since Agadir was devastated by a 6.7-magnitude quake in 1960, which killed more than 12,000.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Friday's quake was also the most powerful to hit Morocco for more than a century.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The UN said it was ready to assist the government of Morocco in its rescue efforts - and similar pledges have come from several countries including Spain, France and Israel.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Neighbouring Algeria has had hostile relations with Morocco in recent years, but is now opening its airspace for humanitarian flights to Morocco.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Many families were trapped when the quake struck at night.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Montasir Itri, who lives in the mountain village of Asni, close to the epicentre, told Reuters: "Our neighbours are under the rubble and people are working hard to rescue them using available means in the village."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Houda Outassaf had been walking around Jemaa el-Fna Square in Marrakesh when he felt the ground start to shake.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I have at least 10 members of my family who died... I can hardly believe it, as I was with them no more than two days ago," he told AFP news agency.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A mosque minaret collapsed in Jemaa el-Fna Square and many narrow streets in the city's old Medina were filled with rubble. BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>