Morocco collapse kills 22 in buildings with ‘signs of cracking’
State media reports the residential blocks in Fez had visible structural damage and neglect long before the fatal disaster occurred
At least 22 people were killed late on Tuesday after two buildings collapsed in Fez, one of Morocco’s oldest cities and a key tourist destination, with the state broadcaster saying the blocks had shown signs of cracking.
Local authorities in Fez prefecture reported two adjacent four-storey buildings had collapsed overnight, state news agency MAP said. The buildings were inhabited by eight families and were in the Al-Mustaqbal neighbourhood, a densely populated area in the west of the city, it reported.
Buildings lacked maintenance, state media says
State-owned broadcaster SNRT reported eyewitnesses at the scene as saying the buildings had shown signs of cracking for some time, without any effective preventive measures being taken.
Reuters was unable to independently verify SNRT’s damage report, and the Interior Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
SNRT showed rescuers and residents digging through the rubble to look for survivors overnight.
“My son who lives upstairs told me the building is coming down. When we went out, we saw the building collapsing,” an old woman wrapped in a blanket told SNRT, without giving her name.
Another survivor, who lost his wife and three children in the collapse, told local Medi1 TV early on Wednesday that the rescuers were able to retrieve one body, but he was still waiting for the others.