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~14 dead in serious explosion in Marrakech ~14 dead in serious explosion in Marrakech
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Old 28 Apr 2011
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~14 dead in serious explosion in Marrakech
It isn't clear yet whether this is an accidental gas bottle/water heater explosion, or something more sinister, but given that this is peak tourism time in Marrakech and Djemma el Fna is the top tourist spot, one has to suspect the worst.

That's an awful lot of people dead from a single exploding gas cylinder. These things aren't that big and they tend to break into largish pieces, not enough pieces of shrapnel to kill that many people.

In the meantime, UK Foreign Office advice is for UK Nationals to KEEP AWAY from the square at the moment.

BBC report: BBC News - Morocco: Blast rocks Marrakesh's Djemaa al-Fna square
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Old 28 Apr 2011
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Portuguese media are also saying the blast was not accidental, it's a criminal hit.
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Old 28 Apr 2011
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The Algerians say this is an act of terrorists. 11 tourists killed.
Maroc: explosion d'origine criminelle
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Old 28 Apr 2011
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Just saw a friend's post in Facebook where he says he called some friends there near the blast and they maintain the gas bottles version...
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Old 28 Apr 2011
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Thoughts to all involved and their families.....sad news, no matter what the cause.....does sound like a terrorist attack though.
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Old 28 Apr 2011
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Argana at Djema El Fnaa?!

I was there last saturday night. It was the place for an anniversary dinner!

Rui
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Old 28 Apr 2011
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Horrible.
My thoughts are with the victims' families.
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Old 28 Apr 2011
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Was there on tuesday and wednesday night for dinner, fantastic place. There but for the grace of god.
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Old 28 Apr 2011
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There is now reports saying it was an attack possibly a suicide bomber and 2 french and 1 brit dead[not 100% confirmed]. ALong with several europeans and a canadian in hospital. The pictures do not look like a small gas cannister explosion thats one hell of a blast.
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Old 29 Apr 2011
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They found nails in one of the bodies.
A man sat down and ordered an orange juice, and a few minutes later blew himself up.
The owner of Argana was seriously injured.
King Mohamed pardoned a number of prisoners including islamists a couple weeks ago.
Maroc : Marrakech secouée par un attentat - Monde - El Watan
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Old 29 Apr 2011
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Snap Analysis: Cafe bombing hits at Morocco's economy | Reuters
Moroccan tourist cafe terrorist attack leaves at least 15 dead | World news | The Guardian
16 dead, 20 injured.
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Old 29 Apr 2011
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Best analysis is from The View from Fez weblog.
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Old 29 Apr 2011
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My thoughts go out not just to the bereaved, but also to all those who will suffer through the lack of income from tourism.
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Old 2 May 2011
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Blogger analysis
Who bombed Marrakesh?
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Old 2 May 2011
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Must admit rather strange no one has come forward taking out several western people is something that they would normally be jumping up and down about.
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