Minaret collapse in Morocco

At least 41 people have been killed and 80 more injured after a minaret collapsed at a mosque in northern Morocco.

The Lalla Khenata mosque minaret in the Bab el Bardiyine neighbourhood of Meknes collapsed during Friday's prayers, burying most of the 300 worshippers gathered there.

Interior ministry officials blamed the incident on heavy rain that had weakened the minaret. . .

Angry residents accused authorities of ignoring warnings about the dilapidated state of the mosque.

"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," one man, who gave his name only as Mohammed, was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying.

From Aljazeera.net. News reports indicate the minaret was around 400 years old.

Posted by David on February 20, 2010 11:06 AM