RABAT (AFP) – A powerful blast killed 14 people and injured 20, including several tourists, in a cafe in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh on Thursday, authorities said, describing it as a “criminal act”.

“The casualties include people of various nationalities and reports seem to indicate that it was a criminal act,” an official said.

An interior ministry official confirmed the report and said an investigation was under way to shed more light on the blast which occurred on Jamaa El Fna Square, a favourite spot for foreign visitors, in central Marrakesh.

Earlier reports spoke of the accidental explosion of several gas canisters in the Argana cafe in the middle of the square.