Twenty people were killed and 16 others injured when two adjacent four-story buildings collapsed overnight in the Moroccan city of Fez in the second fatal collapse this year, authorities said Wednesday.
The collapse of two buildings in the northern Moroccan city of Fes, authorities said Wednesday, was reportedly the deadliest accident of its kind in the kingdom in years.
Morocco’s state news agency MAP said eight families lived in the two buildings. Sixteen people were injured and taken to hospital. Authorities said the neighborhood has been evacuated and search and rescue efforts are ongoing.
It was not clear what caused the collapse or how many people were missing. Authorities said an investigation has been launched. MAP said the structures were built in 2006 during an initiative called “A City Without Slums”.
Fez is Morocco’s third largest city and one of the hosts of this year’s African Cup of Nations and the 2030 FIFA World Cup. It is best known for its walled city full of medieval markets. It is also one of the poorest urban centers in the country, where aging infrastructure is common.
Such building collapses are not uncommon in Moroccan cities with rapid population growth. A collapse in Fez in May killed 10 people and injured seven in a building that was designed to be evacuated, according to Moroccan source Le360.
Building codes are not often enforced in Morocco, especially in ancient cities where aging cinder block multi-family houses are common. Although the buildings that collapsed on Wednesday were built to code, news website Hespress reported, additional floors had been added to the structures.
Inequality in infrastructure was the focus of protests that swept the country earlier this year, with protesters criticizing the government for investing in new stadiums instead of addressing inequality in health, education and other public services.
