Rabat – Moroccan police announced that a group of irregular migrants tried to flee an accomodation center on May 1, during the state of emergency, in the southern city of Laayoune.
Police said 78 migrants took part in a violent exchange using kitchen utensils before storming outside of the accommodation center in an attempt to violate sanitary containment measures.
The situation urged a police officer to use his service weapon and issue two warning shots.
A third bullet slightly injured one migrant, a statement from the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) said.
The statement added that police brought the situation back under control in the center.
Security services transferred four police officers and several irregular migrants to the hospital after they were injured in a stampede and in the exchange of violence within the center.
Police opened a preliminary investigation to determine the circumstances of the case.
Morocco’s government has provided accommodation centers for irregular migrants and for people without shelter to protect them from the spread of the virus.
Morocco is both a home and transit country for thousands of irregular migrants, seeking to cross borders to reach Europe.
