Earthquake robbed Moroccan villagers of almost everything — loved ones, homes and possessions

abcnews.go.com:

The toll of the earthquake that devastated Morocco is on stark display in dozens of remote villages across the North African county's disaster zone

TAFEGHAGHTE, Morocco — His dead relatives have been dug out and buried, but the remnants of Musa Bouissirfane's former life are still trapped under rubble and dust in the ruins of the mud-brick Moroccan village of Tafeghaghte.

“It’s incredibly challenging to lose your entire family and all your possessions,” Bouissirfane said as tears welled in his eyes in the community less than a two-hour drive from Marrakech. “We have lost everything — our homes, our livestock and all our possessions.”

Less than a week ago, he was excited about his daughter starting second grade. Now he’s mourning her death. Far from ambulances and authorities, villagers could not retrieve her body for more than 14 hours, until Saturday afternoon. The earthquake also killed Bouissirfane's mother and father and a niece. His wife is hospitalized in an intensive care unit.

The toll of the massive earthquake that killed more than 2,800 people was on stark display Monday in remote villages such as Tafeghaghte, where more than half of the 160 inhabitants are thought to have died, including the four in Bouissirfane’s family.

Bouissirfane joined with other survivors as they worked to clear debris and recover the dead. They toiled in a scene of horror: Bulldozers dug through dust and rubble hoping to find a body. The air in parts of the village was filled with the stench of dead cattle. People warned each other not to walk near the few buildings that remained standing because they looked like they could topple at any moment.

“God save us,” said Khadija Babamou, a resident of nearby Amizmiz who came to Tafeghaghte