The images have gone viral on social media. Moroccan firefighters brought a spectacular fire under control on Thursday evening at a large gas depot near Casablanca, without causing any casualties, local authorities said. The impressive disaster, whose images have gone around social networks, broke out around 6 p.m. local time (5 p.m. GMT) in a gas warehouse in the coastal city of Mohammedia, in western Morocco. The fire was brought under control two and a half hours later.
According to the 2M media, citing an “authoritative source”, the fire started in a propane gas tank. Tanks are suspected of having exploded. Rescuers secured the area adjoining the burnt depot and evacuated neighboring homes as a precaution.
The most important explosion was at the origin of the fire, now “under control”, declared the governor of the city on the Moroccan site Medias 24. Five tank trucks, of a load of eight tons each, have destroyed by the flames, authorities said.
So far, no casualties have been reported. The firefighters intervened quickly on the spot, “gradually control the fire” and evacuated “the houses surrounding the place of the accident”, specified the television channel. 2m.
But the situation could have “worsened given the proximity of the fire to the oil port and the nature of the flammable products”. According to witnesses contacted by Médias 24, “the air is unbreathable, saturated with the characteristic smell of gas”.
On videos posted on social networks, the city is first illuminated by this impressive explosion, then plunged into darkness, the electricity being cut off.
According to the Moroccan daily Le Matin, the situation could worsen due to the proximity of the fire to the oil port and the nature of the flammable products. An investigation has been opened to determine the causes of the explosion.