Dutch man killed in Morocco bomb attack

2011-04-29 08:23

The Hague - A Dutch man died and two other nationals were seriously wounded in the bomb attack in Marrakesh that killed 14 people, a Dutch foreign ministry official told AFP on Friday.

"A Dutch man was killed," said the official, Christophe Kamp, adding that the two wounded were one man and one woman.

Moroccan Interior Minister Taib Cherkaoui put the death toll at 14 - 11 foreigners and three Moroccans. Twenty-three people were also wounded.

Medical sources said eight of those who died in the blast in the cafe on the popular Jamaa el-Fna square, a cultural heritage site that draws a million tourists a year, were French.

Security forces have been deployed in the country in the wake of the blast, the deadliest attack in the North African kingdom since 2003, when 45 people including suicide bombers perished in a string of coordinated bombings in Casablanca.

A senior police official said cordons had been erected at the entrances to Morocco's main cities, "to ensure the internal security of the country".

French intelligence and anti-terrorism experts will travel to Marrakesh on Friday to help in the probe, a source said.

- SAPA