ByREUTERS
Updated:

At least 19 people were killed, and 16 were injured early on Wednesday by the collapse of two buildings in Morocco's northeastern city of Fez, a former capital, the state news agency said.

Local authorities in the Fes prefecture reported two adjacent four-story buildings had collapsed overnight, the state news agency said.

Eight families inhabited the buildings and were in the Al-Mustaqbal neighborhood, it reported.

A man pushes a cart along an alley as a shopkeeper waits in his store in the market area of the ninth-century walled medina in Fes on May 29, 2025.
A man pushes a cart along an alley as a shopkeeper waits in his store in the market area of the ninth-century walled medina in Fes on May 29, 2025. (credit: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images)

Authorities took care of the victims

As soon as they were informed of the incident, local authorities, security services, and civil protection units moved to the scene and immediately began search-and-rescue operations, it said.

The injured were transported to the university hospital center in Fes. In contrast, search and rescue operations continued around the clock to find others who may still be trapped under the rubble, the news agency reported.

Most of Morocco's population, financial and industrial hubs, and vital infrastructure are concentrated in the northwest, with the rest of the country relying on farming, fisheries, and tourism.