An explosion of gas cylinders occurred yesterday at 8:30 a.m. near the Azli and Douar Laskar neighbourhoods in Marrakech, sowing terror among the inhabitants. According to testimonies collected on the spot, the inhabitants of the city and the security services believed at first that it was a terrorist act, before realising that it was the explosion of almost 200 gas cylinders transported by a truck.

According to the same testimonies, the driver of the vehicle in question was distributing gas cylinders in the Azli and Douar Laskar neighbourhoods when he realised that one of them had caught fire. He tried to extinguish it without success. And to avoid a tragedy, he decided to move his truck away from the residential area, which explains why the blast caused no casualties.

However, well-informed sources confirmed that more than 100 gas cylinders exploded, and that firefighters were able to narrowly avoid the explosion of 114 other large gas bottles, eight medium-sized ones, and 65 small ones. This explosion also caused material damage (broken glass and damage to some shop fronts). It should be noted that the security authorities of Marrakech have opened an investigation to determine the causes and circumstances of this incident.