The owner and manager of a mattress factory in Casablanca were detained Sunday after at least 55 people were killed in a fire which broke out in the factory, Morocco's official news agency MAP reported.

Factory owner Adil Moufareh and his son Abdelali, the factory's manager, have been detained for questioning. Poor safety measures and locked doors which trapped workers were blamed for the tragedy, during which at least 55 people have been confirmed dead and six others were hospitalized, local police said.

The blaze broke out in the morning at 10 a.m. (1000 GMT) on Saturday in the first floor of the Rosamor Ameublements factory in the Hay Hassani neighborhood of the North African country's economic capital as well as the largest city, the report said.

About 60 of the 150 workers, recruited by the factory, were on site when the fire erupted, according to MAP.

Some 100 fire fighters were deployed to control the blaze, believed to be the deadliest in the country since 2002 when a fire in a prison left 50 people dead.

(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2008)