At least 36 killed in mosque collapse in Morocco

A minaret on a Moroccan mosque collapsed Friday, killing at least 36 worshippers and injuring 70 in the city of Meknes, the official MAP news agency reported.

Authorities had not determined the cause of the accident, which occurred during Friday prayers at the Bab Berdieyinne Mosque in the historic district of Meknes, about 130 kilometres west of Rabat in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains.
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About 300 worshippers were in the mosque at the time of the accident, which may have been caused by heavy rainfall in the region. The saturated earth beneath the 400-year-old minaret may have caused the collapse.
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Rescue teams had to extract people from the rubble.
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King Mohammed VI sent his interior minister to the accident site to coordinate the rescue work.
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Meknes has about half a million residents and is an important trade and handwork centre in the north African country.