BREAKING NEWS
Deadly blast devastates Marrakesh cafe Authorities suspect "criminal act" as explosion at tourist hangout in Moroccan city's main Jamaa el-Fna square kills 18.
Moroccan officials said on Thursday that they suspect the attack in the heart of the country's main tourist destination to be the work of a suicide bomber.
"According to the information I have, it could have been perpetrated by a suicide bomber," an official in the regional governor's office told the AFP news agency.
"We found nails in one of the bodies," added the official, who was in a hospital where some of the bodies were taken
The interior ministry said that foreigners were among the 18 people killed and 20 wounded in the blast that rocked Argana cafe in the city's main Jamaa el-Fna square.
An official from the ministry said the the blast had the makings of a terror attack though the ministry said earlier in the day, in a statement carried by the official MAP news agency, that "early evidence collected at the site (of the explosion) indicates that it was a criminal act".
Rescuers were dispatched to the scene and an investigation was opened to provide details on the blast.
The cafe is a popular spot with tourists and ranks 21 on the Lonely Planet’s online list of 'things to do in Marrakesh'.
"One of the few café’s where you'll compete with locals for elbow room and a spectacular view of the [Jamaa el-Fna] at sunset, when the restaurant stalls set up shop and the belly dancers begin to wriggle," the travel guide writes.
Thursday's blast in Morocco would be the fourth such attack since 2003 when suicide bombers set off at least five explosions in Casablanca, killing 45 people, including 13 bombers.
In 2007, a series of suicide attacks took place in Casablanca between March and April, including an attack on the US diplomatic offices on April 14.
Source: Agencies/The Sun, UK/Al Jazeera
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