A minaret collapsed during Friday prayers, killing 36 people and injuring 71 at a crowded mosque in the old town of the historic Moroccan city of Meknes.

The Interior Ministry blamed yesterday's tragedy on heavy rain that had weakened the minaret at the Bab Berdieyinne Mosque.

King Mohammed VI sent the interior minister and religious affairs minister to Meknes, a Unesco heritage city and one of Morocco's four imperial cities, 62 miles east of the capital Rabat.

The ministers visited some of the injured at hospitals in Meknes. The more seriously injured were taken to hospitals in the nearby city of Fes. A team of psychologists also was sent.

The old town of Meknes is a pedestrian zone, which made rescue efforts more difficult.

The king has ordered the reconstruction of the mosque, which was built four centuries ago under Sultan Moulay Ismail, who made Meknes his capital.

Heavy rain battered the city yesterday and more rain has been forecast for the next week.

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