'Sometimes we see miracles': UNICEF specialist says first 72 hours critical to search and rescue

Moroccan Royal Armed Forces evacuate a body from a house destroyed by the earthquake in the mountain village of Tafeghaghte on September 9. Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images

Recovery and relief efforts following the powerful earthquake in Morocco have entered a "challenging" period but there is still hope of finding survivors, a spokesperson for UN’s Children Fund UNICEF told CNN.

]Any humanitarian response is always complex, complicated and challenging. I think this will be very much so," said Joe English, an emergency communications specialist with UNICEF.

"The first 72 hours in terms of search and rescue are absolutely critical... They call it the 'golden period' because if you're going to get under rubble, that will be the time to do it (and) sometimes we see miracles."

English said many families who had fled their homes with "just the clothes on their back" had spent a second night out in the streets of Marrakech, the largest city near the epicenter of Friday's quake.

Children have seen their schools and homes destroyed and are now living out in the streets without any shelter," English said. 

"We will be here all the way through and will support children and their families after but we can't do it without public support and donations – all of this is actually critical... in terms of getting (survivors) safe drinking water, shelter and food in the longer term.