Finnish Kati Komulainen was on a business trip in Marrakesh, Morocco, when the earthquake devastated the city. He survived the quake with a start.
who was in Marraskesh, Morocco, at the time of the earthquake Kati Komulainen has moved with his entourage further north to Casablanca on Saturday evening.
From there, they are scheduled to fly to Finland via Málaga tonight. Originally, the group was supposed to return to Finland from Marrakesh on Tuesday, but they wanted to get out of the way of the rescue work.
– We made a decision as a group that it’s better to leave than to be consuming local resources. We were able to arrange flights from Casablanca to Finland, Komulainen tells .
From Marrakesh to Casablanca, the group traveled by chartered taxi. The trip went smoothly.
Kati Komulainen is the executive director of the UNESCO Salpauselkä Geopark. He has been in Morocco on a business trip. There are seven Finns in the group.
More than 2,000 people have died in the earthquake in Morocco. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not aware of any Finns being killed or injured in the earthquake.
Brick rubble could be seen along the alleys
Komulainen and his entourage stayed in the old town of Marraskesh. They were in a restaurant when the earthquake happened. They spent the next night in a nearby square.
Komulainen and his entourage did not move around the old town anymore after they moved to the conference area related to their work trip on Saturday morning.
The sounds of emergency vehicles could be heard all the way there.
When the party left the old city of Marrakesh, people still stayed in open places because of the danger of aftershocks.
– In the part of the old town where we were, there was a peaceful atmosphere at the time. Of course, there were broken bricks and other things along the alleys. Parts of the walls and roofs of the mosques had come off, and the walls of the houses had partially collapsed.
“We were very lucky”
Komulainen describes the Finnish group as being lucky.
– We were very lucky. We weren’t in the kind of alley where bricks fell on your head. We happened to be in a building that remained standing and from which we immediately got out to a safe place in the square, says Komulainen.
– Grieving for all those who did not fare as well.
He is grateful that they had a chance to leave the earthquake zone at all. The situation for the locals is different.
The Komunainen has barely had time to stop and think about what happened.
– In that situation, you just try to stay calm and not cause any more disturbance to anyone. You don’t necessarily want to think terribly about what could have happened.
Komu residents have a sense of togetherness at the top of their minds, for example when people spent the night in the square.
– Snacks were also shared with the local people, and they offered blankets.
The video below shows how people who were afraid of aftershocks and house collapse slept outside for the second night in Morocco.