RABAT, Morocco (AP) – Heavy rains flooded an illegal garment factory in the northern Moroccan city of Tangier, killing at least 28 workers on Monday, a state television medical official said. .
This raised the death toll to 24, previously reported by the Moroccan news agency MAP.
Local authorities said firefighters and emergency workers rescued 10 people from the factory, in the basement of a residential villa. Rescuers searched for others who may have been trapped in the sudden flood.
The total number of workers at the site was not immediately known. An investigation was opened.
An unidentified shaken woman who came out of the flooded basement told TanjaNews, a local site, that no one was prepared for the deadly flood.
“There was nothing to worry about. We were working as always, ”said the woman. “And then because it was raining, as you can see … water started to come in, a little water, even the shoes didn’t get wet. But suddenly … ”He couldn’t finish the sentence.
To meet the growing international demand, many factories in Morocco, especially in Casablanca and Tangier, rely on unregulated shadow factories to speed up production and meet deadlines. Factories outsource these illegal units to better compete with cheaper Chinese and Turkish products.
These hidden factories are located mainly in residential areas and often employ up to 40 people, sometimes minors.
Long hours and low wages are a mark of this illegal work, usually in unsafe conditions, with no fire extinguishers, emergency exits and internal pipes.