Morocco has suffered one of the worst road tragedies in recent years. A total of 24 people have died after a van veered off the road at a curve and plunged into a 60-meter-deep ravine on Sunday morning, Moroccan police sources have reported. The accident, which has also caused very serious injuries to a dozen people, took place near the village of Bulajaf, belonging to the province of Azilal, located in a mountainous region of the Atlas Mountains, in the center of the country.
According to various local media, the bus was heading to the Sunday market in the town of Demnat on regional road number 302 when, for unknown reasons, the driver lost control of the vehicle on a curve. Given the seriousness of the injuries to several of the victims, the authorities fear that the death toll could rise in the coming hours. The bodies were taken to the Azilal hospital morgue, which has also been in charge of treating the wounded.
In the images published on Moroccan news portals, an old blue van can be seen practically destroyed, as if it were deposited in a scrapyard, which gives an idea of the violence of the impact. Local authorities have opened an investigation, under the supervision of the district attorney, to clarify the causes of the incident.
After the news was released, numerous criticisms have appeared on Moroccan social networks regarding the state of secondary roads in the country, especially in the mountainous areas of the Atlas Mountains, where this type of accident is not uncommon. Specifically, Internet users have complained that at many points on the roads, there is barely space for two vehicles to circulate in the opposite direction, as well as the lack of protective barriers on most of the route to prevent fatal falls such as the one this Sunday.
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