Scores killed in Casablanca fire

Investigations are under way into a factory fire in Morocco which has claimed the lives of at least 55 workers.

Some 24 others were injured in the blaze, which tore through a mattress factory in an industrial area on the edge of Casablanca.

The head of the Red Crescent rescue operation said an emergency exit was blocked and firefighters arrived some two hours after the fire began on Saturday morning.

Mustapha Touil, Regional Commander for Civil Protection, said: "We were surprised to find on our arrival that the factory had several flammable products inside and at the same time we noticed that there were no emergency exits as by law there should have been.

"And further to this we have information that the factory was closed, locking in the employees which turned some of them into victims."

Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa said an investigation into the cause of the blaze would also examine security measures and work conditions at the factory.

The minister said that chemicals in the building sent the blaze out of control and delayed the rescue effort by hours.

Some 80 Red Crescent rescuers joined an estimated 200 firefighters battling the blaze, which was damped down within three hours but soon rekindled.

More than eight hours after the fire started, firefighters used a crane to hose down the smoking rubble.

Police dogs and seismic equipment were brought in to locate victims but the heat and smoke kept the dogs at bay for hours.

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