Casablanca – Last Friday morning, three buildings collapsed in Casablanca, leaving numerous inhabitants under the rubble.
The continuing search operation is believed by many of people to be ineffective, because of the reduced chances of saving more people from suffocation.
The collapse of the three buildings has now led 3 days later up to 23 deaths. The number of casualties, however, is expected to grow as firemen are still working their way through the remaining wreckage. One of the injured is the actress Amal Maarouf and her mother according to local authorities.
King Mohammed VI went Friday to the site of the collapsed buildings and visited the injured people in the Moulay Youssef regional hospital to inquire about their health.
An eyewitness told MWN: “People were trying to look for their family members and friends, but the police would not let them. It was a race against time, but I guess the police realized it was too late(…) I was also shocked at the sight of thieves lurking around.”
Bourgogne neighborhood in Casablanca has experienced its worst tragedy. The loss of innocent people caused a moment of grief all around Morocco. On the other hand, many citizens are outraged by the approach that led firemen from saving more lives.
Another eyewitness stated:” I am deeply disappointed at the way the Moroccan authorities cope with these situations. There were so many policemen and only three little buildings to deal with. They don’t have the equipment and the knowledge to deal with this kind of situations. I wonder what would they do if Morocco were stricken by an earthquake. God forbid!”
Casablanca has many buildings whose structure and safety equipment are not up to date. Most landlords only care about making more money and have little regard for people’s safety.
This is why these tragic incidents are more likely to occur at any time, as many old buildings can turn into dangerous traps for innocent Moroccan citizens.
Most Moroccans interviewed by MWN hope that this incident will be a wakeup call for the Moroccan authorities to increase their supervision and inspection of old buildings, in order to step in before horrible incidents such as the Bourgogne disaster strike.
