At least 19 people were killed and 16 others injured after two residential buildings collapsed on Wednesday in the Al-Mustaqbal neighborhood of Fes, Morocco, according to the state news agency.
Local media reported that the death toll includes several children. The collapsed buildings were four-story residential structures housing eight families.
Police and civil protection teams responded quickly, according to footage posted on social media. The injured were taken to the university hospital center in Fes, the state agency said.
The incident is the latest in a series of deadly building collapses in Morocco. In February 2023, five people died in a similar collapse in Fes’s old city. In 2016, two separate collapses in Marrakesh killed six people and injured more than 20.
In 2023, after a series of powerful earthquakes, local media reported that authorities identified more than 12,000 buildings in Marrakesh and surrounding areas as being structurally vulnerable. Some officials have suggested that these natural disasters could have contributed to the instability of older buildings.
In September 2023, protests erupted in Morocco over deteriorating living conditions, including concerns about housing quality and public infrastructure.
No official cause for the latest collapse has been confirmed. Authorities have not yet provided further information on whether the buildings had been inspected or flagged for risks prior to their fall.
