Rooftop shanties top once-iconic Casablanca buildings

Casablanca, Morocco

SHANTIES have mushroomed on the rooftops of historic apartment buildings in Casablanca, as the Moroccan city's once-prestigious centre crumbles below.

Clotheslines, satellite dishes and tangled cables have sprouted on the deteriorating facades of the buildings, constructed nearly a century ago under French rule. What was once a feted blend of Moroccan and European architecture is falling apart under the weight of an expanding urban population and neglect.