“In principle, you prefer to go through calls from the country itself. Something similar also happened in Türkiye at that time. But if a country doesn’t appeal, you can look locally at what options there are,” explained a spokesperson for the foundation. “This is easier for non-governmental organizations to do.” Signi also helped in Türkiye which was hit by a devastating earthquake in February.

It involves a team of six people and four dogs. “Of course it makes sense to leave now. In Turkey we also found people still alive under rubble after twelve days,” the organization said. The team will leave Brussels on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Then it was a four hour flight. Upon arrival at the disaster location, the team is expected to immediately rush to the disaster location.

The organization decided not to wait any longer, in part because access would become easier and demand for help remains high, said Esther van Neerbos of Signi. “We are a fast and flexible team, completely self-sufficient: food, tents, cars. We can support and not depend on what the state offers us.”

The team looked on site at how they could collaborate with local organizations. “We can be included in the recovery team, we can also work in various teams. The latter usually happens.” The team first traveled to Morocco’s capital, Rabat, and from there sought the most needed assistance. “It can vary from day to day.”

Neerbos doesn’t expect his organization to face any problems, as the Moroccan government has received only limited aid. “I think it’s not so bad in practice. We also provided assistance in 2004, when the political situation was more or less the same. We assume that we can do our job.”

The team not only brought search dogs, but also thermal cameras to search under the rubble. The team was also able to locate bodies: “Our dogs found not only living people but also dead people,” Neerbos said. This way, the public has certainty about where a person is and that the body can be found.” The team plans to fly back next Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the RHWW Rescue Dog Foundation expressed its frustration over the fact that the organization still does not have permission to provide assistance in earthquake areas in Morocco. “It hurts because we can’t leave yet. Our hands itch. They just need to snap their fingers and we’ll be gone,” a spokesperson said. “This is a disaster for the people still under the rubble.”

This team has thirty people and twenty rescue dogs ready to go to the disaster area. Although time is running out to rescue people from the rubble, according to the spokesman, it still makes sense to evacuate. “The first 72 hours are critical, but sometimes we find people are still alive after one to two weeks.”

Currently, Morocco only receives aid from four countries: Spain, the UK, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. It’s hard to coordinate things well if everyone is just driving into the mountains, which seems to be the Moroccan government’s reasoning. Moreover, the country must first determine exactly what assistance is needed, based on an official communiqué.

There were traffic jams on various roads leading to the disaster location. The road is sometimes narrow and now increasingly difficult to navigate due to falling rocks. Wouldn’t it be too busy if lots of people went to Morocco alone? “I heard about the jam,” Van Neerbos said. “But we are small and flexible, so we can easily anticipate it. And our usability is great.”