Rescuers are searching through rubble and trying to reach isolated communities after a devastating earthquake struck Morocco, killing thousands and leaving more injured or unaccounted for.
The quake is the strongest to hit the nation’s center in more than a century, and its epicenter was not far from popular tourist and economic hub Marrakech.
At least 2,862 people have been killed in the disaster and 2,562 have been injured, state media said on Monday.
The 6.8 magnitude temblor was unusual for the area, and towns and villages built largely of mud-brick dwellings were incredibly vulnerable.
Buildings damaged by the quake were still crumbling in on themselves from aftershocks Tuesday as CBS News visited one decimated mountain town where 48 people were killed.
There is only one road into the town for rescuers and aid workers to try to help — a one-lane highway where a traffic jam or a rockslide could mean the difference between life and death.
With time slipping away, rescuers and residents were left to dig frantically in the dirt and debris to try to rescue their own brothers, sisters, wives, and children.
"I heard my sister screaming, 'Brother, brother, save us!' I rescued her and her son and her husband," Mohamed Ouchen told us. "We used our bare hands because we didn't have tools."
Rescue crews only gained access to many remote parts of the decimated region on Monday. Meaning that the crucial golden period — the best window for finding survivors who might still be struggling to survive beneath the rubble — had closed. Leaving victims who could have been saved in the hours right after the quake, dead.
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