The death toll from a powerful earthquake in Morocco has soared to more than 2,000, with a similar number of injured.
BBC reports that the interior ministry has said that more than 1,400 people have serious injuries, and the heaviest casualties are in provinces just south of Marrakesh.
Fearing aftershocks, many Moroccans have opted to stay outdoors for a second night, sleeping on the streets.
The epicentre was in the High Atlas Mountains where there are reports of entire villages flattened in remote areas, though information continues to emerge.
BBC correspondent Nick Beake reports that in one remote community, an elderly woman was wailing after 18 bodies had been recovered in a single place.
Many survivors have spent a second night out in the open.
Thousands of families are waking up in makeshift camps, lining the grass outside the walls of the famous Medina, a Unesco world heritage site.
Sheets are slung over palm trees; but most belongings remain in the homes they’re afraid to return to in case of aftershocks.
Inside the old city, piles of bricks and rubble are strewn around. “Violent” tremors were felt across Morocco, sending terrified residents and tourists scrambling to safety.
But the emergency search and rescue teams are focusing their efforts on the remote mountainous villages, close to the epicentre, where hundreds of people are believed to still be trapped beneath the wreckage of their homes.
Entire settlements have been flattened, and the Red Cross has warned it will take years to repair the damage.
BBC