Blast in Moroccan cafe kills 14, including foreigners
A bomb tore through a busy cafe frequented by foreigners in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh on Thursday, killing at least 14 people and wounding more than a dozen others, Moroccan officials said.
The blast, which occurred around lunchtime in the central Djemaa el Fna Square, appeared to be a attack by a suicide bomber on a popular destination in the tourist-filled city, according to a senior Moroccan intelligence official.
Police and security officials were investigating the nature and cause of the blast. The Moroccan government characterized it as a criminal act but stopped short of describing it as terrorism, reports.
"Analysis of the early evidence collected at the site of the blast that occurred on Thursday at a cafe in Marrakesh confirms the theory of an attack," the ministry said in a statement carried by the official MAP news agency.
The blast in the iconic Jamaa el-Fna square is Morocco's deadliest bombing in eight years. Earlier reports suggested that the blast may have been caused by a gas canister catching fire. Witnesses reported rescue services pulling casualties from the cafe, reports.
