ISTANBUL

Argentina’s Lionel Messi on Sunday offered his condolences to Morocco following a deadly earthquake that killed hundreds in the North African country.

"My condolences to all the families of the earthquake victims in Morocco," the world champion footballer Messi wrote on Instagram.

"All the strength to the injured and the people who were affected by the terrible catastrophe," he added.

At least 2,122 people were killed and 2,421 others injured when a magnitude-7 earthquake struck Morocco late Friday, according to the Moroccan Interior Ministry.

The quake was the strongest tremor to hit the North African country in the last century, according to Morocco’s National Geophysical Institute.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar