Thousands protest in Morocco after brothers die in illicit coal mine and anger rises to the surface

Thousands of protesters in northeastern Morocco on Wednesday called for “jobs and development” in the fourth day of mass protests since two miners died in a shuttered coal pit.

“No to marginalisation,” cried the mostly young demonstrators in the main square of the impoverished city of Jerada.

On Friday, two brothers who were mining illegally died in a tunnel accident 85 metres below ground, sparking the fury of residents over what they view as state neglect.

“We ask the state to find solutions to our problems: unemployment, water and electricity bills that are too high,” one 23-year-old protester said.

“Young people go down into the mines because they have no other option. We ask the authorities to find us an alternative,” he said.

The national electricity and water board this week however said electricity bills in the Jerada region were calculated in the same way as in other parts of Morocco.

The mine was the economic lifeblood of Jerada, employing some 9,000 workers, until it was shut down in the late 1990s.