A young girl from the UK has vanished after being carried away by the sea while she and her family were perched on rocks in Morocco.
Seven-year-old Inaayah Makda, hailing from Blackburn, disappeared yesterday evening as her family relaxed along the coast near Casablanca. They were enjoying the sunset on the inaugural day of their week-long vacation in the North African nation.
While the family was settled on the rocks, an unexpected wave surged over them, sweeping several relatives into the ocean. Although others managed to return to safety, Inaayah did not.
Her father, Zubair, recounted the incident to UCTV, a broadcaster based in Blackburn, saying, “We were just sitting on rocks about half a meter high when the tide suddenly pulled us out.”
“Inaayah was positioned on the rock behind me. The wave swept us to the right, but took her to the left. I lost sight of her so quickly as she was swept away,” he explained.
He expressed frustration with the local authorities, stating, “I couldn’t find her at all. We are seeking assistance because the police here are not being helpful. They aren’t taking any action.”
A family member told the BBC that Zubair and Inaayah’s mother, Tasneem, spent hours screaming her name and searching for her along the beach.
A relative told the broadcaster the tide appeared to be a long way out when the family first arrived at on the coast, but came in within roughly 20 minute – catching them by surprise.
A neighbour of the family said that Inaayah, a pupil at Roe Lee Park Primary School in the Lancashire town, is a ‘lovely, bubbly, cheeky little girl.’
Inaayah Makda, a seven-year-old from Blackburn, (pictured) went missing last night as she and her family were sitting the coast near Casablanca
Several members of her family were also swept into the water with her, though they made it back out (File image of a Morocco beach)
She said the young girl is her parents’ only child and is ‘their whole world’, adding: ‘We’re all just in shock, we’re devastated.’
The family has slammed local authorities for not doing enough to try and find her.
A family member in the UK told the Lancashire Telegraph: ‘We are all really worried. You can understand this is really distressing for everyone.
‘We have reached out for help, but the support has not been forthcoming.
‘The support we have got from the local authorities in Morocco can only be described as inhumane. The family over there have been walking up and down the beach conducting their own search. They have been disregarded.
The family member told the local paper that her relatives had not been warned of the dangers of going on the rocks outside the historic city, which sits on the Atlantic Ocean.
She claimed that Moroccan authorities told her family to ‘wait for the body to wash up.’
She said: ‘The support since has been zero, they actually got told it was too rough to go out to sea, and they should wait for the body to wash up on sea.’
The family are said to have hired a private search operator with a helicopter to help find the young girl.
Adnan Hussain, the MP for Blackburn, said today in a social media post: ‘I am heartbroken by the news that seven-year-old Inaayah from Blackburn has been swept away by a wave while on holiday in Casablanca. My thoughts and prayers are with her family at this unimaginably painful time.
‘The whole community in Blackburn is holding Inaayah and her loved ones in their prayers, and I will continue to do all I can to support the family during this devastating time.’
The independent MP said he had raised the issue with the UK’s foreign office and will soon make ‘direct contact’ with Morocco’s ambassador.
A spokesperson for the UK’s foreign office told the Daily Mail: ‘We are supporting the family of a British national reported missing in Morocco and are in contact with the local authorities.’
More to follow.
