The Prime Minister stressed this Sunday that Portugal has civil protection and forensic teams ready to support Morocco and that the government continues to monitor the situation of the Portuguese in that country.
Antonio Costa spoke to reporters following a lunch with Portuguese businessmen-investors in Chile and a meeting this morning with Mexican President Lopez Obrador.
The preliminary balance of the earthquake that struck Morocco on Friday evening raised the death toll this Sunday to 2,122 and the number of injured to 2,421.
“We have already given the Kingdom of Morocco full availability of Portugal to participate in the support it deems necessary. So far we have not been asked for any support, but we have it, both in the field of civil protection and in the field of forensic medicine. We have teams that are in a state of readiness to provide support to the Kingdom of Morocco if there is any request in this regard,” the Prime Minister said.
In front of journalists, António Costa said that “from the first hour, the government expressed regret to the King of Morocco, the Moroccan people and all those who lost families.”
He further noted that on Saturday Portugal carried out an operation to hand over national citizens who were in Morocco and had expressed their intention to return.
“An Air Force plane took out at night about 140 Portuguese who were in Morocco and wanted to return to Portugal. We continue to monitor the situation of the Portuguese in Morocco. We will support those who want to return, but those who want to stay obviously have the right to stay,” he added.
The earthquake, whose epicenter was recorded in the city of Isis, 63 kilometers southwest of the city of Marrakesh, was felt in Portugal and Spain, reaching a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale, according to the National Institute of Geophysics of Marrakech. .
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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