In a remarkable turn of events, a joyous wedding celebration in a Moroccan village became the unexpected saviour for its residents following the devastating earthquake in the country on Friday, September 8th.
Habiba Ajdir, aged 22, and Mohammed Boudad, a 30-year-old apple farmer, had planned to hold their wedding ceremony in Mohammed's village of Kettou that Saturday.
However, by custom, the bride's family organised a traditional pre-wedding celebration the night before the big day before she was to depart for her soon-to-be husband’s house in Kettou.
This would later turn out to be a miraculous escape for the entire villagers in Ighil Ntalghoumt, who were invited to the courtyard of the bride’s father moments before disaster struck.
As traditional music filled the air and festivities were in full swing, the earth trembled beneath them, destroying their stone and mud-brick houses, giving way to chaos, darkness and screaming.
Though the village was left in ruins, and many of its people are now homeless, no deaths were recorded, and only one person was reported injured in the quake.
The 6.8 magnitude earthquake is Morocco's deadliest since 1960, killing more than 2,900 people, mostly in remote settlements in the High Atlas mountain range south of Marrakech.
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