Gad Elmaleh’s call for help

A 6.8 magnitude earthquake shook part of Morocco in the night from Friday to Saturday, killing more than a thousand people and injuring hundreds. Gad Elmaleh, originally from Casablanca, expressed his sadness the day after the tragedy. "What shocked me this morning when I woke up was the state of shock that all the people I talked to, my family, my friends, and others were in [...] We’re not ready to live through this, it’s a horror movie," he told the newspaper Le Parisien on Saturday.

The Moroccan comedian has launched an appeal for solidarity. "We’re all going to be in solidarity. We need to rebuild, and rebuild ourselves. The damage is colossal, unimaginable. I call for solidarity. Every donation is important. We really need to mobilize, facilitate access to the roads, the destroyed areas, and the governments despite their generosity won’t be able to do everything." The 56-year-old father of two believes that "every penny counts."

"I cry because I’m Moroccan, but the outpouring of the French moves me. It’s a human, universal tragedy, there is neither religion nor nationality. We hold hands, we are brothers in humanity," said Gad, moved. The comedian announced that he would soon go to Morocco, "to those who have been shocked and tried." "I want [...] to sit next to them, as we comfort someone in mourning, to reach out physically to someone who is in distress, it’s my duty," he added.

A few hours earlier, Gad was making the same appeal on BFMTV. "We need to help these people who are alive to resume life. That’s where this outpouring of solidarity makes sense and that’s why I’m speaking up, to motivate and unite around this call for donations."