At least 19 killed in collapse of two buildings in Morocco's Fez, state news agency says

At least 19 people were killed and 16 injured early on Wednesday by the collapse of two buildings in Morocco's northeastern city of Fez, a former capital, the state news agency said.

Local authorities in the Fez prefecture reported two adjacent four-storey buildings had collapsed overnight, the state news agency said.

The buildings were inhabited by eight families and were in the Al-Mustaqbal neighborhood, it reported.

As soon as they were informed of the incident, local authorities, security services, and civil protection units moved to the scene and immediately began search and rescue operations, it said.

The injured were transported to the university hospital centre in Fez, while search and rescue operations continued around the clock to find others who may still be trapped under the rubble, the news agency reported.

Most of Morocco's population, financial, industrial hubs and vital infrastructure are concentrated in the northwest, with the rest of the country reliant on farming, fisheries and tourism.

(Reporting by Ahmed Elimam and Nayera Abdallah, Writing by Nayera Abdallah and Michael Georgy; Editing by Sharon Singleton)