It was quite a shock for Mohammed Bouchti. The resident of Den Bosch was in Morocco on Friday evening, where a major earthquake occurred. He was not in Marrakech but felt the heavy earthquake very well. “Suddenly everything started shaking and the light went out. I knew right then that I had to go outside.”
Mohammed Bouchti has lived in Den Bosch for 63 years but is in Morocco to visit family. He was just in bed when the earthquake started. “It felt like I was being pushed,” he says from Morocco.
Then he quickly went outside. He stood there for a while. “Later it seemed safe to go back inside, but I wasn’t comfortable yet. I couldn’t sleep anymore and stayed awake all night.”
He has now also been in contact with the home front in Den Bosch. “That took a while because there was no internet and I couldn’t call anyone. Luckily I was able to reach them. They are relieved. Just like me,” Bouchti says just before he tries to sleep around noon. “But I’m really shocked. It was shaking so hard.”
Halfraised flag
In Den Bosch, a Moroccan flag hangs at half-mast on and in front of the town hall. “We deeply sympathize with Morocco after the devastating earthquake,” said the municipality of Den Bosch.
Transavia
Remarkably, a plane left Eindhoven airport for Marrakech on Saturday morning. Transavia says that it has not been told by the Moroccan authorities that the area is unsafe. According to a spokesperson, there were also no signals that the flight was less full.