An official source revealed to Hespress that the initial assessments regarding the causes of the collapse of two buildings in the city of Fez, which resulted in the death of 19 people and the injury of 16 others, are due to “a violation of the building permits, which stipulated only two floors, not four.”
The same source added that the story dates back to the restructuring of one of the shantytowns in Fez in 2007, where plots of land were granted to those concerned with the restructuring process, who then built the two houses themselves according to a building permit for two floors; however, they violated what was stated in the permits granted to them, and added two floors to bring the total to four.
The same official source indicated that this violation “is likely behind the collapse of the two buildings on the night of Tuesday/Wednesday, December 9-10, in the Al-Mustaqbal neighborhood of the Al-Massira urban area in the city of Fez.”
The Hespress source stressed “the lack of sufficient technical data to fully understand the reasons for the collapse; but what is officially known is the aforementioned building violation.”
Local authorities in the Fes province reported that, in an initial count, 19 people were killed and 16 others sustained injuries of varying severity in the collapse of two adjacent (4-story) buildings inhabited by 8 families.
Authorities, in official statements obtained by Hespress, added that upon being notified of the incident, local and security authorities, along with civil protection services, rushed to the scene to begin search and rescue operations. These services took all necessary measures, including securing the perimeter of the two collapsed buildings and evacuating residents of neighboring houses as a precautionary measure to ensure their safety in case of any further potential dangers.
The injured people were transferred to the University Hospital Center in Fez to undergo the necessary examinations and receive the necessary treatments; while search and rescue operations are continuing, up to this hour, to save and rescue other people who may be trapped under the rubble.
