Morocco floods overturn bus, killing at least 11

At least 11 people were killed and several injured when their bus was overturned by flooding in southeastern Morocco.

2 min read

09 September, 2019

Rescue crews evacuated 27 passengers from the bus, including several injured [Getty]

At least 11 people were killed on Sunday in Morocco after their bus was overturned by a flood in the kingdom's southeast, authorities said.

Rescue crews evacuated 27 passengers from the bus, including several injured, after it flipped over on a bridge by "flood waters" in El Khank, local officials said in a statement.

Search operations were ongoing, they said, adding that the evacuees had been transferred to hospital in the city of Errachidia.

Morocco has been hit by violent storms this summer.

At the end of August, a flood hit a football pitch killing eight people in the southern region of Taroudant.

And in July, 15 people were killed in a landslide caused by flash floods on a road south of Marrakesh.

Floods are common in Morocco. In late July, 15 people died in a landslide caused by flash floods on a road south of Marrakesh.

In 2014, floods killed around 50 people and caused considerable damage in the south of the country.

Between 2000 and 2013, a series of 13 major floods killed a total of 263 people in Morocco and caused considerable damage to infrastructure worth $427 million, according to the World Bank.

A study published in 2015 pointed to multiple failures in infrastructure maintenance, prevention, warning and emergency management.

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