ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed solidarity with Morocco and prayed for rescue efforts on Thursday as 22 people were reported dead after two buildings collapsed in the country’s Fez city. Morocco’s state news agency, MAP, reported on Wednesday that two adjacent four-story buildings, which housed eight families, collapsed overnight in Fez. Sixteen people were injured and taken to the hospital as authorities said the neighborhood had been evacuated, and search and rescue efforts were ongoing.

The death toll from the destruction of the buildings includes several children.

According to an initial death toll, 19 people have died and 16 others have been wounded after two adjacent four-story buildings collapsed in the northern Moroccan city of Fes.