Scenes of shock and panic filled the streets of Casablanca early on Saturday after a series of suicide bomb attacks in the Moroccan business capital left at least 24 people dead.
Police descended in force on the town centre after a string of car bombs and other eexplosives at around 10:00 pm on Friday.
Debris was strewn across the ground in front of a Jewish cultural centre which was among the places targetted.
Witnesses said there were at least three deaths there, including a policeman and a security guard.
The toll would have been much higher had the centre not been hit on Friday night, after the start of the Jewish Sabbath, the witnesses said.
Several hundreds of metres away, the entrance and first floor of the Farah Maghreb hotel, better known by its former name the Safir, were badly damaged after a bomb, detonated by a suicide bomber on foot, went off, another witness said.
The hotel’s big bay windows were blown out and the ceiling at the entrance destroyed.
Further east, but still in the city centre, the Casa de Espana Hisoanic centre was also hit.
At least 18 people were believed to have been killed in that blast although little debris was visible from the outside. The main explosion was inside the centre where some 100 people had been eating in the restaurant, according to an official at the centre.
In another busy street a bomb went off near the Belgian embassy which stands opposite an Italian restaurant, the Positano.
The facades of both places were damaged and witnesses were unable to say which had been the main target.
Secenes of panic were played out in all the areas hit while locals were enjoying a pleasant spring evening.
There were no initial reports of any foreign casualties.
There were other reports of explosions in the Corniche restaurant district in western Casablanca, but the authorities gave assurances that there had been no incidents there. – Sapa-AFP