After arriving in Morocco on Wednesday evening, the Signi Search Dogs team from De Rips located at least five bodies under the rubble. “The dogs attacked places where people were lying and then a thermal camera confirmed that they were no longer alive,” Esther van Neerbos from Signi said on Thursday.
The team arrived in Morocco on Wednesday evening and immediately went to a coordination center. There they were sent to a first place to help.
They are now on their way to a number of remote mountain villages near the city of Marrakech, which have so far only been reached by helicopter. Van Neerbos is not sure what they will find there, but she expects that many people have died.
Signi traveled to the country without an official request for help from the Moroccan state. With the help of local contacts, the team was still welcome, says Van Neerbos. The foundation is in Morocco with a team of six people and four dogs.
The search dog team was also in Turkey earlier this year, where it found people alive under the rubble twelve days after the earthquake.
Signi left De Rips for Morocco on Wednesday.