More than 2,600 deaths have been recorded… On the night of Friday September 8 to Saturday September 9, 2023, a powerful earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale struck Morocco. If Rachida Dati was born in Saint-Rémy, in Saône-et-Loire, her father M’Barek Dati, who died in 2017, was of Moroccan origin. Thus, a large part of the family of the mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Paris lives in Morocco. Upset by the tragedy which affected the country led by King Mohammed VI, she agreed to testify on Monday September 11, 2023 on the set of C to youon France 5. “We must have thoughts, closeness, compassion for these Moroccan people”, she declared to Anne-Elisabeth Lemoine. Having received images from those close to her, Rachida Dati indicated: “All of Morocco is affected because the tremors affected practically all of Morocco. I have a large part of my family in Casablanca […] Even there, there are cracks in the houses and the affected families are sleeping outside today, as well as mine.” The former minister under Nicolas Sarkozy also underlined the “great dignity” demonstrated by the Moroccan people.
Rachida Dati: “The houses are cracked”
Sunday September 10, 2023, the one who was a European deputy from 2009 to 2019 went to the set of BFM TV. The lawyer was then particularly moved when she discovered on the screen a photo of her aunt’s neighborhood in Marrakech. “My aunt lives at the brown door and especially all my cousins who are very numerous in these small houses. They were built in the 1930s and 1940s and are very old. It’s where my father lived, it’s a very popular neighborhood.”, she clarified. Contacted by her loved ones shortly after the first tremors, Rachida Dati explained that “everyone was scared” and was “in panic.” On the phone almost all night with her family, the former Minister of Justice between 2007 and 2009 added: “It was my cousin who called me. They called us to reassure us… They are in Casablanca […] Everyone slept outside because houses are cracked because they are old […] In my family they all sleep outside with the whole neighborhood.”