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Rabat – A protest in the small town of Oulad Youssef, near Beni Mellal, took a shocking and violent turn on Friday evening when a man threw a firefighter off a high water tower during an intervention attempt.
The protester, a man in his 40s, had been camping on top of the water tower for more than 10 days. He was demanding a new investigation into the death of his father, which he believes was not an accident but a murder. Despite several mediation attempts, the man refused to come down or speak to authorities, and local sources say he had shown signs of psychological distress.
According to eyewitnesses, a member of the Civil Protection (fire brigade) climbed up the tower Friday evening in an attempt to convince the man to come down safely. However, the situation escalated quickly. The protester suddenly attacked the firefighter, hitting him on the head and arm with a stick, and later pushed him off the tower.
“He just threw him. It was terrifying to watch,” said one local resident.
The firefighter fell from a significant height and was immediately rushed to a private clinic in Beni Mellal, according to local reports. He remains under medical supervision with a skull fracture and broken bones in his arm.
The protester later tied a rope around his neck and threw himself off the tower in an apparent suicide attempt. Emergency services took him to the hospital in critical condition. As of late Friday night, it was still unclear whether he survived.
The incident sparked shock and concern across the town and the rest of Morocco. Videos and photos from the scene quickly spread on social media, with many users expressing disbelief.
Security forces, including the Royal Gendarmerie, local authorities, and auxiliary forces, rushed to the scene and are now monitoring the area to prevent further violence. An investigation into the events has been opened.
