Deadly building collapse in Fez leaves 22 dead

At least 22 people have died and another 16 were injured after two residential buildings collapsed in the Moroccan city of Fez. According to state media, the four-storey structures, which housed eight families, gave way early Wednesday morning.

Local outlets report that the buildings, located in the Al Massira district in the newer part of the city, had been showing signs of structural decline for several years. Authorities have launched an investigation into what caused the collapse.

Emergency teams are still searching the debris for survivors. Videos from the scene show rescue workers and machinery digging through rubble in the darkness. In footage shared by the news site Akhbarona, emergency responders can be seen carrying away a victim on a stretcher. People living in nearby buildings have been evacuated as a precaution, and those taken to hospital reportedly sustained injuries of varying severity.

The public prosecutor’s office said one of the buildings was unoccupied, while the other was hosting a celebration for the birth of a baby when it collapsed. Authorities are now examining the circumstances surrounding the incident. Some residents blamed poor and unregulated construction practices. A local man named Abdelali told Hespress that one building appeared to have fallen onto the other. Another resident, Idris, said the collapse happened in under two minutes, describing it as sudden and shocking.

Fez, in Morocco’s northeast, is one of the country’s oldest and most historically significant cities, with roots stretching back to the 8th Century. It is also the nation’s third-largest city. Furthermore, Fez was among the cities that saw youth-led protests in recent months, where demonstrators demanded better housing and infrastructure. Earlier this year, Housing Minister Adib Ben Ibrahim reported that around 13,700 buildings across Morocco were at immediate risk of collapsing.

In May, nine people died when a condemned building fell in another part of Fez. Just a few months before that, five people were killed when a house in the old city collapsed in February 2024 after severe weather.