Explosion tears apart Argana cafe in Marrakech's Jamaa el-Fna square, which is popular with foreign tourists
cafe ruins
© AFP/Getty ImagesInside the ruins of the Marrakech Argana cafe, destroyed by a blast that officials say was a 'criminal act'.
A suspected terrorist bomb attack in the Moroccan city of Marrakech has killed at least 14 people and injured 20 at a market square cafe popular with tourists. As many as 11 foreigners are believed to be among the dead with one report saying they include a French couple and a Briton.

The blast just before noon tore the facade off the two-storey Argana cafe, leaving awnings dangling. Bystanders dragged away bodies and tried to put out flames with fire extinguishers, witnesses said.

The interior ministry said there was evidence the blast was a "criminal act". The ministry later confirmed that the explosion was caused by a bomb and called it a terrorist attack.

A Moroccan government spokesman, Khalid Naciri, said that the dead came from different countries but did not say which ones. "We worked for more than an hour, maybe less, on the hypothesis that this could eventually be accidental. But initial results of the investigation confirm that we are confronted with a true criminal act," Naciri said in an interview with France-24 television.

Naciri said it was "too soon" to say who was behind the attack.

Briton Andy Birnie told Associated Press: "There was a huge bang and lots of smoke went up. There was debris raining down from the sky. Hundreds of people were running in panic, some towards the cafe, some away from the square. The whole front of the cafe is blown away."

Birnie, from north London, is on his honeymoon. "It was lunchtime so the square was very busy. We had just walked into the square but were shielded by some stalls."

Portuguese tourist Alexandre Carvalho, a 34 year-old call centre worker, told AP: "I had just arrived at the square, the area where most cafes are located. Suddenly I heard this massive explosion. I had my back turned to it. I turned around to see the explosion had happened on the veranda of a cafe.

"There were at least 10 injured people, lots of debris, things flying up in the air. I saw people in a panic running towards the area with fire extinguishers, some people being carried away. I believe the injured were mostly tourists, judging by what they were wearing."

A photographer said he saw rescue workers pulling dismembered bodies from the cafe.

The British Foreign Office is investigating the report that a Briton may have been among the victims of the explosion. "We are aware of the report. The Foreign Office is looking into it," a Downing Street spokeswoman said.

"A consular team from the embassy has been dispatched."

The FCO later said: "Consular staff have been deployed and are urgently trying to establish whether any British nationals are involved."

The Jamaa el-Fna square is a Unesco world heritage site known for its snake charmers and fire breathers. Marrakech's old town is usually crowded with tourists.

The state news agency, MAP, said an investigation was under way. An official source had earlier told Reuters it appeared the blast was caused by gas canisters in the cafe catching fire.

Islamist militants staged a series of suicide bombings in Morocco's commercial capital, Casablanca, in 2003. More than 45 people were killed.