“The authorities wrapped up the rescue operation and they had cleared the rubble. The last body was pulled out early on Saturday,” parliamentarian Abdallah Bouanou told Reuters from the scene. He gave the death toll at 41, with 86 people injured.
The 18-century Lalla Khenata mosque in the old Bab Al-Bardiyine neighborhood of Meknes, about 140 km southwest of Rabat, was packed with some 300 worshippers at the time of the collapse.
Local officials warned the toll could mount from the tragedy.
Angry residents accused authorities of ignoring earlier warnings about the dilapidated state of the mosque.
State officials blamed the accident on heavy rain that had weakened the minaret, according to a statement released by the Interior Ministry. Heavy rain battered the city Friday, and more rain has been forecast for the next week.
Residents also complained about the slowness of the rescue operation. Soldiers were eventually sent to help.
“A young man could be heard asking for help last night but he had been pulled out of the rubble dead this morning,” Bouanou said.
Civil defense commander Alaoui Ismaili said the operation was slow because of the narrow streets in the old city’s medina district, which prevented heavy equipment from being brought in.
Residents began to bury the dead on Saturday.
“We told them many times before that there were widening cracks on the walls and that its minaret had begun tipping over but they ignored the warning,” said one man, who gave his name only as Mohamed.
Mohamed and other residents said they believed the accident could have been averted if the warnings had been heeded.
“We believe in God and what the fate bring for us but this time lives could had been spared if the authorities did not show they do not care about what people say,” said resident Zouhaier, who did not want to give his full name.
Neglected old buildings in the old quarters of Morocco’s cities collapse fairly often but the fall of a minaret is rare. “The residents’ anger is justified because there were reports by government experts backing the necessity of shutting the mosque down,” parliamentarian Bouanou said.
King Mohammed VI sent the interior minister and religious affairs minister to Meknes, a UNESCO heritage city and one of Morocco's four imperial cities, some 120 km east of the capital Rabat.
The officials visited some of the injured at hospitals in Meknes. The more seriously injured were taken to hospitals in the nearby city of Fes. A team of psychologists also was sent.
The old town of Meknes is a pedestrian zone, which made rescue efforts more difficult.
The king has ordered the reconstruction of the mosque, which was built four centuries ago under Sultan Moulay Ismail, who made Meknes his capital.
