Tientallen doden na instorten minaret in Marokko

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Instortende minaret plet moskeegangers

RABAT - Een vier eeuwen oude minaret is vrijdag ingestort in het Marokkaanse Meknes. Daardoor zijn twee moskeegangers om het leven gekomen. Meer dan veertig mensen raakten gewond. Dat meldden ziekenhuisbronnen en ooggetuigen.

In de moskee waren ongeveer driehonderd personen aanwezig voor het vrijdaggebed, toen de toren van de moskee instortte. Ongeveer tachtig mensen raakten bedolven onder het puin, aldus de imam.

De Lalla Khenata-moskee is gelegen in de oude wijk Bab el Bardivine in Meknes. Het komt wel vaker voor dat verwaarloosde gebouwen in oude districten in Marokkaanse steden instorten, maar zelden gebeurt dat met een minaret.

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Death toll rises to 16
RABAT (Reuters) - A four centuries-old mosque minaret collapsed in Morocco on Friday, killing at least 16 people and injuring more than 30 worshippers, hospital officials and eyewitnesses said.

World

"I counted myself 13 dead. Their corpses were pulled out of the rubble by rescuers. My colleagues and officials at the hospital told me there were three other dead there," parliament member Abdallah Bouanou, who is a doctor, told Reuters from the scene.

About 35 people were hospitalized for injuries, he added.

"A man is being pulled out of the rubble alive now. He is speaking. I can see and hear that while I'm speaking to you," he said.

The state news agency MAP, citing an official provisional toll, said 11 were killed and 50 injured in the incident.

Up to 80 people were trapped under the rubble and soldiers were working to reach them, said Khaled Rahmouni, a resident in the town of Meknes where the mosque collapsed.

"About 300 worshippers gathered inside the mosque for the Friday afternoon mass prayers. When the imam (preacher) was about to start his sermon, the minaret went down," Rahmouni told Reuters by telephone.

The Lalla Khenata mosque minaret collapsed in the old Bab el Bardiyine neighborhood of Meknes, which is about 140 km (80 miles) southwest of Rabat.

Neglected old buildings in the old quarters of Morocco's cities collapse fairly often, but the fall of a minaret is rare.

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Op vrijdag 19 februari 2010 22:29 schreef Meki het volgende:
Al Jazeera meldde net 33 doden!

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Op vrijdag 19 februari 2010 22:33 schreef Mutant01 het volgende:
Zou me niet verbazen als de hevige regenval van de afgelopen maanden de constructie nog meer heeft verzwakt.

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BreakingNews: Update: Minaret collapse that killed 36 caused by heavy rain that weakened the structure, Interior Ministry says Reference