Rescue Dogs Aid Search Efforts in Morocco Earthquake Aftermath

Sniffer dogs and rescuers are working to find survivors and the bodies of victims of the powerful earthquake that struck part of Morocco and killed nearly 3,000 people. In Tnirte, Kilian, a golden retriever who has already participated in disaster relief missions and helped find 18 living people under the rubble in Turkey at the beginning of the year, is part of the Swedish rescue team. This dog is searching the rubble for a 9-year-old girl named Shaima. Her father, Mohammed Abarada, has been digging with his bare hands for days to find her.

"He is in shock," explains Latifa Abarada, the girl’s sister-in-law. "He lost his first wife a few years ago, and his second wife in the earthquake." Mohammed and neighbors invested the site to find survivors and the bodies of victims for 48 hours before the arrival of the rescue teams. The family man found the body of his wife and hoped to find his little girl. He thinks he saw her for the last time in a bathroom on the second floor. Kilian is focusing on this area, but the searches are fruitless. It is only at night that the Spanish rescuers will discover the body of little Shaima. She is added to the list of more than 50 inhabitants of this village who perished in the earthquake.