One dead in Casablanca video arcade explosion

Photo: Abdeljalil Bounhar

An explosion has rocked Boulevard el Joulane in the Salmia neighborhood of Casablanca, leaving one person dead and injuring six, residents. According to an Interior Ministry official, the initial information is that the blast was accidental and not linked to terrorism.
According to a witness, Hassan Sajeed, the explosion took place at 8.45 in the morning.

The windows of my apartment were blown out by the blast, which reverberated through the neighborhood. Several people were covered in blood and an elderly woman had head injuries from fragments of stone. - Hassan Sajeed

One car flipped over and lay on its roof, charred and surrounded by broken glass on the cordoned-off street. Several other cars were badly damaged, as were the video game arcade and a nearby bank.

"Everyone here thinks it's a bomb" because of the force of the explosion, Sajeed said. "Windows were blown out in a 40-meter radius."

But a senior Interior Ministry official said a gas canister had exploded by accident. He requested anonymity in keeping with Moroccan government regulations regarding security matters.

The official MAP news agency also confirmed that the preliminary investigation by scientific police revealed that the explosion occurred due to a gas leak, scientific police said.

Civil protection mobilized thirty firefighters, three ambulances and a fire engine to help rescue the victims, with a;; the injured transferred to Sidi Othmane hospital in Casablanca.

The explosion came as Morocco celebrated one of its largest national holidays, to commemorate the Mulid an-Nabi, or birthday of Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

A largely moderate Muslim kingdom and a strong U.S. ally, Morocco has fended off a rise in terrorist threats in recent years. A string of attacks killed 45 people in Casablanca in 2003 and Morocco has since jailed hundreds of suspected Islamist militants on terrorism charges.

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news