More than 2,000 people died in the Moroccan earthquake, according to the Red Cross, the reconstruction work will take years.   

Morocco’s deadliest earthquake in decades has killed more than 2,000 people, officials said Saturday, as troops and rescue services struggled to reach remote mountain villages where victims are feared still trapped.

Officials declared three days of national mourning, but the Red Cross warned it could take years to repair the damage.

The 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck late Friday in a mountainous region 72 kilometers (45 miles) southwest of the city of Marrakech, according to the US Geological Survey. With strong tremors also felt in the coastal cities of Rabat, Casablanca and Essaouira, the quake caused widespread destruction and left residents and tourists scrambling for safety in the middle of the night.

“I was almost asleep when I heard doors and shutters slamming,” said Ghannou Najem, 80, from Casablanca, who was visiting Marrakech at the time of the quake. “I went out in a panic. I thought I was going to die alone.”  In the mountain village of Tafeghaghte, near the epicenter, almost no buildings were left standing. The traditional clay bricks used by the Berbers of the region were no match for the rare earthquake.

In the late afternoon, soldiers continued to search the wreckage, but most survivors made their way to the cemetery, where loud screams erupted during last rites as some 70 villagers were laid to rest. ”