A residential building collapsed Thursday in the Ain Naqbi neighborhood of Fez, killing four people and injuring six others, local authorities told MAP, in a new tragedy that has renewed scrutiny over unsafe housing conditions and construction oversight in Morocco’s aging urban districts.
The four story residential building, which included a ground floor level, collapsed in the Jerradi Ain Naqbi area of the Jnane El Ward district, according to local authorities in Fez.
Authorities said six people sustained injuries of varying severity and were transferred to the Hassan II University Hospital in Fez for treatment, while search and rescue operations continued amid fears that additional people could still be trapped beneath the rubble.
Local authorities, security services and civil protection teams were deployed to the site immediately after the collapse to secure the area and carry out rescue operations.
Officials also evacuated residents from neighboring homes as a precautionary measure after concerns emerged over possible additional collapses threatening nearby buildings in the densely populated district.
The public prosecutor’s office ordered an investigation under the supervision of the competent judicial authorities to determine the circumstances and causes of the collapse.
The incident comes only months after one of Morocco’s deadliest recent housing disasters, when two residential buildings collapsed in Fez in December 2025, killing 22 people and injuring 16 others.
That earlier collapse triggered a broader debate over illegal construction, corruption in permit delivery and the vulnerability of overcrowded working class neighborhoods where unauthorized extensions and aging buildings remain widespread.
Investigators later said the collapsed buildings had illegally added extra floors beyond approved permits, used second hand construction materials and benefited from irregular administrative certificates and property transactions.
Twenty one people were later placed under investigation, including officials and individuals accused of bribery, illegal construction practices and involuntary manslaughter.
add your comment
Terms of publication : Not to offend the writer, people, sacred things, or attack religions or the divine self, and refrain from racist incitement and insults.