A minor, accidental fire occurred on Thursday afternoon at the Moroccan Parliament, in the centre of Rabat, causing a brief stir before the intervention of firefighters, an AFP journalist observed.

The fire, which broke out on the Parliament terrace, was "caused by a short circuit between a welding device and the air conditioning gas pipes", the presidency of the House of Representatives (deputies) specified in a statement.

The fire "affected (...) part of the terrace covering and some connection cables for the telephone and internet network", without, however, causing any casualties, the same source added.

Some witnesses had previously claimed to have heard an "explosion". According to an AFP journalist present at the scene, a column of black smoke escaping from the building was visible for several hundred metres around.

But "the fire was contained and the situation brought under control immediately, thanks to the rapid intervention of the civil protection services and all the services concerned", the Parliament's statement assured.