The city of Fez, the scientific capital of Morocco, witnessed a tragic night on Tuesday, as the death toll from the collapse of two adjacent buildings rose to 22, in an incident classified as the worst of its kind witnessed by the Kingdom of Morocco in recent years, leaving deep shock and sadness in local and national circles.
Details of the bloody night
Local authorities in the Fes region reported that the disaster occurred late at night when two four-story buildings collapsed. The buildings housed eight families, explaining the high death toll. The public prosecutor's office stated that a family celebration was taking place in one of the buildings at the time of the collapse, resulting in a large number of people being gathered in one place, while the adjacent building was unoccupied, which prevented the death toll from being even higher.
In addition to the fatalities, the incident resulted in injuries to 16 people, some of whom were seriously wounded and rushed to the Hassan II University Hospital in Fez for treatment. As a precaution, authorities evacuated nearby homes for fear of cracks that could lead to further collapses.
Rescue efforts amid the rubble
Civil protection and security forces mobilized all their resources, with rescue teams rushing to the scene supported by heavy machinery and bulldozers. They also used pneumatic hammers and pickaxes to meticulously search through the rubble. Images from the scene showed crowds of onlookers anxiously watching as rescuers worked tirelessly to recover victims and search for any possible survivors trapped beneath the debris.
The informal construction crisis and resettlement programs
This incident has once again highlighted the problems of urban planning and construction in marginalized neighborhoods. According to testimonies gathered by the Moroccan news site Le360, the area where the accident occurred was part of a resettlement program launched in 2007 targeting shantytown residents. A local resident indicated that beneficiaries received plots of land, but construction was carried out individually and perhaps without strict adherence to engineering standards and safety regulations.
In the same context, local media reports stated that these constructions were not subject to the required strict oversight, which allowed some owners to exceed the approved designs or add floors without a technical study of the load-bearing capacity of the foundations, which is a major reason for the recurrence of such tragedies.
General context and urban safety challenges
This incident is not an isolated event within the context of the urban planning challenges facing major Moroccan cities. Morocco has been making concerted efforts for years to eradicate substandard housing through ambitious national programs, but the rapid pace of urban sprawl and the lack of rigorous oversight in some self-construction projects remain a significant challenge. The tragedy in Fez brings to mind similar incidents that have occurred in other cities, such as Casablanca, thus amplifying public and human rights demands for the activation of mechanisms to monitor and penalize violations in the construction sector in order to protect citizens' lives.
The competent authorities are continuing their investigations under the supervision of the Public Prosecution to determine responsibilities and arrange legal penalties, while search operations are still ongoing to ensure that there are no other missing persons under the rubble.
