An explosion tore through a café in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh Thursday, leaving at least 14 people dead and 20 more injured.  The blast hit the Café Argana, a spot popular with tourists, around lunchtime.  Foreigners are said to be among the dead.

The New York Times, citing Moroccan officials reports the explosion appears to be the work of a suicide bomber.

Witnesses described the scene to CNN.

"We were walking around the souks, right around the corner from Cafe Argana. We heard a gigantic boom, and everyone immediately starting running towards the square to see what happened," according to a German tourist who was about 50 meters from the cafe when the blast occurred.

Morocco has seen a decline in tourists in the last few months and some speculate this may be the result of anti-government protests across North Africa.  There was a nationwide peaceful demonstration calling for an overhaul of the country’s government structure on Sunday.   A new constitution is scheduled to be unveiled by King Mohammed VI in June.

If the blast does turn out to be the work of terrorists, it will be the first such attack since the 2003 bombings in Casablanca.  Those attacks killed 45 people.

Reach Christine Detz here