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Minaret collapse leaves 16 dead in Morocco

“I myself counted 13 dead. Their bodies were pulled from the rubble by rescue teams. My colleagues and hospital staff told me there were three more dead,” the lawmaker told Reuters Bouanou Abdallah, who is also a doctor, from the scene.

About 35 people were hospitalized, he said.

“A man is being rescued alive from the rubble now.”s speaking. I can see and hear as I speak, “he said.

MAP The state agency, quoting an official provisional statement said 11 people were killed and 50 injured in the collapse.

Up to 80 people were trapped under the rubble, and soldiers are working to reach them, said Khaled Rahmouni, resident in the city of Meknes, where the mosque collapsed.

“About 300 faithful gathered inside the mosque for Friday mass prayers. When the imam (preacher) was about to start the sermon, the minaret collapsed,” he told Reuters by telephone.

The minaret of the mosque collapsed Khenata Lalla in the old quarter of Bab el Bardiyine of Meknes, located about 40 miles southwest of Rabat.

Although the collapse of old abandoned buildings in old districts of Morocco are common, the collapse of a minaret is exceptional.

(Reporting by Lamine Ghanmi, editing by Madrid Writing, editing Spanish by Bill Trott /Rex Gowar)