The death toll in Morocco continues to rise, as local and international aid workers attempt to retrieve bodies from the wreckage following a deadly earthquake.

Last week, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake in the western area of the country devastated communities, pulverising houses and leaving entire villages homeless.

The death toll has now risen to over 2,800 – but authorities expect the number is higher, as much of the quake zone is in remote villages.

Moroccan authorities now report that 2,562 people are injured, and many animals also remain trapped underneath the rubble in towns in the High Atlas Mountains.

Two women carry another injured woman in front of a house destroyed by the earthquake in the city of Azizmiz. Credit: SOPA Images Limited/Alamy Live News

One man described his pain as his house fell down around him, collapsing on him and his family.

"I rescued my two daughters and their mother," he said.

"But I lost my other two children and I have no furniture, nothing left."

The epicentre of the earthquake is some 70 km southwest of Marrakech – a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Many historical buildings in the old city remain standing, but there was significant damage to the 12th-century Tinmel Mosque.