UN disaster agency not coordinating search and rescue efforts

International search and rescue teams deployed to Morocco after Friday's earthquake are not being coordinated through the UN's disaster response system.

A spokesperson for the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) told MEE that international teams arriving in Morocco were doing so without UN involvement.

While a UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (Undac) team arrived in Morocco on Saturday to support UN humanitarian officials already in the country, search and rescue teams are operating independently.

Ocha typically plays a central organisational role in international responses to major disasters.