( CNN ) -- A 400-year-old minaret collapsed Friday on worshipers in Meknes , Morocco , killing 36 and injuring 71 , the official news agency Maghreb Arabe Presse reported , citing the Interior Ministry . The collapse occurred as hundreds of people were gathering in Bab Berdieyinne mosque in Meknes , a town in northern Morocco located 140 km ( 87 miles ) southeast of Rabat , it said . `` We were in the middle of prayers '' when the structure collapsed , said one victim told Morocco TV from his hospital bed . The incident occurred after several days of unrelenting rain , the television station reported . It broadcast video showing dozens of people inside the mosque carrying survivors out of the damaged structure to waiting ambulances . King Mohammed VI has ordered that the mosque be rebuilt as soon as possible and that its original architecture be preserved , it said .
Minaret in Meknes , Morocco , was 400 years old . Comment: King ordered that mosque be rebuilt .