RABAT, May 24 Eleven people were killed in a stampede at a stadium in the Moroccan capital Rabat early on Sunday when thousands of spectators hurried to leave at the end of a concert wrapping up the city's landmark music festival.

The stampede caused a fence to give way, killing five women, two teenagers and four men. Forty people were injured, eight of them seriously.

The victims were among 70,000 spectators at the concert by Moroccan pop star Abdelaziz Stati at the Hay Nahda soccer stadium.

“An investigation is under way to establish the exact causes and circumstances of the incident,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

The concert was part of a week-long annual Mawazine music festival which ended in the early hours of Sunday.

A source close to the city council said Stati's concert, which was free, had originally been scheduled to be held in Moulay el Hassan Square in central Rabat.

But it was switched to the soccer stadium to accommodate the large number of fans, said the source.

Mawazine is one of well-funded music festivals aimed at promoting an image of tolerance and modernity in the North African kingdom. This year's festival featured Kylie Minogue, Ennio Morricone, Khaled, Alicia Keys and Algerian diva Warda Al Jazairia. It drew tens of thousands of spectators.—Agencies