{"id":42568,"date":"2023-09-11T17:42:58","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T17:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?p=42568"},"modified":"2023-09-11T15:32:03","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T15:32:03","slug":"coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds","title":{"rendered":"COACH TOM SAINTFIET \u2018TERRIFIED\u2019 AS HUGE EARTH QUAKE KILLS HUNDREDS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>The Gambia coach Tom Saintfiet said he feared a plane had crashed into his hotel after experiencing Friday\u2019s devastating Morocco earthquake.<\/b><\/p>\n

Belgian and his team were in Marrakesh for yesterday\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo.<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s interior ministry said more than 820 people have died as a result of the quake.<\/p>\n

Measuring The magnitude 6.8, it sent people rushing into the streets in Marrakesh and other cities.<\/p>\n

Saintfiet described the experience as \u201cshocking and terrible\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first I heard a lot of noise and thought it was someone knocking on my door, \u201d he told BBC World Service\u2019s Mani Djazmi.<\/p>\n

\u201cA few seconds later I thought that a plane had crashed into the hotel because we\u2019re close to the airport but a second or two later, I knew it was an earthquake.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems it was only 30 seconds but it felt endless. It was really scary. The walls were really shaking and things were falling down from the ceiling and the walls. I never in my life saw a building moving like that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it stopped, I started running and checking if my team members were also out of their rooms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen we ran outside the hotel and all went to the pool area and slept there in the open air with the other guests as we were told that we couldn\u2019t return to our rooms.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very scary. We heard ambulances all night and kept checking the news. It\u2019s a terrible experience for us but most of all for all the casualties who lost their lives and the people of Morocco.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s game, which was moved to the Moroccan city because The Gambia\u2019s stadium was deemed unfit to host internationals, went ahead but Saturday\u2019s qualifier between Morocco and Liberia \u2013 due to take place in Agadir \u2013 has been called off.<\/p>\n

The Gambia\u2019s game against Congo decided who goes through to next year\u2019s Afcon finals in the Ivory Coast.<\/p>\n

The Confederation of African Football said: \u201cThe national football family extends its sincere condolences and compassion to the families of the victims and wishes a speedy recovery to the injured.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morocco and Paris St-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi posted on social media: \u201cWe are going through a difficult time for all our fellow citizens. It\u2019s time to help each other save as many lives as possible. My condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saintfiet added that some of the squad who play in Turkey had also experienced February\u2019s earthquake, which killed former Newcastle player Christian Atsu, and were in shock.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that several players didn\u2019t want to play the game,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are sportsmen and want to qualify and to be fair but a lot of players, their mindset was totally not on football.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there are so many casualties in this city is it wise to let us play football? Maybe we could play in October?<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the moment the focus is not on football but the welfare of the players and all the people in Morocco and Marrakech.\u201d<\/p>\n

Congo\u2019s coach Paul Put said his players were unharmed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are OK but still in shock. Mentally it\u2019s difficult to keep up the concentration.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. The Gambia coach Tom Saintfiet said he feared a plane had crashed into his hotel after experiencing Friday\u2019s devastating Morocco earthquake. Belgian and his team were in Marrakesh for yesterday\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo. The country\u2019s interior ministry said more than 820 people have died as a result of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":42567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[2355,2361,260],"class_list":["post-42568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-gambia","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nCOACH TOM SAINTFIET \u2018TERRIFIED\u2019 AS HUGE EARTH QUAKE KILLS HUNDREDS - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Gambia coach Tom Saintfiet said he feared a plane had crashed into his hotel after experiencing Friday\u2019s devastat ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"COACH TOM SAINTFIET \u2018TERRIFIED\u2019 AS HUGE EARTH QUAKE KILLS HUNDREDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Gambia coach Tom Saintfiet said he feared a plane had crashed into his hotel after experiencing Friday\u2019s devastat ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-11T17:42:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/09\/sm_1694433484.152799.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"COACH TOM SAINTFIET \u2018TERRIFIED\u2019 AS HUGE EARTH QUAKE KILLS HUNDREDS\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-11T17:42:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds\"},\"wordCount\":566,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/09\/sm_1694433484.152799.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Gambia\",\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds\",\"name\":\"COACH TOM SAINTFIET \u2018TERRIFIED\u2019 AS HUGE EARTH QUAKE KILLS HUNDREDS - Gambia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/09\/sm_1694433484.152799.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-11T17:42:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"The Gambia coach Tom Saintfiet said he feared a plane had crashed into his hotel after experiencing Friday\u2019s devastat ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/09\/sm_1694433484.152799.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/09\/sm_1694433484.152799.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"COACH TOM SAINTFIET \u2018TERRIFIED\u2019 AS HUGE EARTH QUAKE KILLS HUNDREDS\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"COACH TOM SAINTFIET \u2018TERRIFIED\u2019 AS HUGE EARTH QUAKE KILLS HUNDREDS\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/\",\"name\":\"Gambia\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"COACH TOM SAINTFIET \u2018TERRIFIED\u2019 AS HUGE EARTH QUAKE KILLS HUNDREDS - Gambia","description":"The Gambia coach Tom Saintfiet said he feared a plane had crashed into his hotel after experiencing Friday\u2019s devastat ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"COACH TOM SAINTFIET \u2018TERRIFIED\u2019 AS HUGE EARTH QUAKE KILLS HUNDREDS","og_description":"The Gambia coach Tom Saintfiet said he feared a plane had crashed into his hotel after experiencing Friday\u2019s devastat ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds","og_site_name":"Gambia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2023-09-11T17:42:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/09\/sm_1694433484.152799.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"COACH TOM SAINTFIET \u2018TERRIFIED\u2019 AS HUGE EARTH QUAKE KILLS HUNDREDS","datePublished":"2023-09-11T17:42:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds"},"wordCount":566,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/09\/sm_1694433484.152799.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Gambia","Gambia"],"articleSection":["all news","sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds","name":"COACH TOM SAINTFIET \u2018TERRIFIED\u2019 AS HUGE EARTH QUAKE KILLS HUNDREDS - Gambia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/09\/sm_1694433484.152799.jpg","datePublished":"2023-09-11T17:42:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"The Gambia coach Tom Saintfiet said he feared a plane had crashed into his hotel after experiencing Friday\u2019s devastat ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/09\/sm_1694433484.152799.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/09\/sm_1694433484.152799.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"COACH TOM SAINTFIET \u2018TERRIFIED\u2019 AS HUGE EARTH QUAKE KILLS HUNDREDS"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/coach-tom-saintfiet-terrified-as-huge-earth-quake-kills-hundreds#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"COACH TOM SAINTFIET \u2018TERRIFIED\u2019 AS HUGE EARTH QUAKE KILLS HUNDREDS"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/","name":"Gambia","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}