Rabat – Moroccans are mourning the death of five children in a horrific fire that broke out in a home in Temara, near Rabat.
Converging reports said the explosion of a phone charger caused the incident. Others, however, said the fire was due to a gas cylinder that exploded in the apartment.
Various security and local authorities were dispatched to distinguish the fire. Locals also tried storming the apartment to help the children, who were reportedly under the age of 12 and alone.
The case made local headlines, with people mourning the children and extending condolences to their parents.
This is not the first case of a similar incident, as many local authorities warn against fake and counterfeit chargers. Low-quality chargers manufactured in China have been at the root cause of these fires.
In 2017, three people were killed after a fire broke out near Marrakech. That same year, the government pledged instructions with the aim of combatting chargers and banning their commercialization in the Moroccan markets.
One of the most disturbing cases took place in 2019, when a young girl died in a burning apartment building near Rabat.
Shocking videos and photos showing the girl trying to escape have gone viral on social media.
In another incident, in the Fez-Meknes region, a student sustained injury due to a phone charger explosion.
A 5-year-old boy was also killed in February 2020, when an exploding phone charger caused a fire to engulf an apartment in the Tabriquet district of Sale, Rabat’s twin city.
Throughout the years, converging reports suggested that local authorities confiscated thousands of low-quality chargers.
One of the seizure operations took place years ago in 2019 when customs seized 192,000 low-quality chargers at Tangier Med Port.
