Bus carrying athletes crashes in Morocco, killing 31

A head-on collision in Morocco between a truck and bus carrying athletes killed at least 31 people and left nine injured on Friday, officials and media reports said.

MAP news agency, quoting local officials, said two of the wounded were in serious condition.

Several private media said the bus was transporting young athletes and their coach from a competition in the north of the country and caught fire after the collision near the southern city of Tan-Tan.

Media 24 and Goud news websites gave a higher toll of 40 dead out of the 50 passengers on the bus.

Mohamed Azzaz, a local health official in the Guelmim-Smara region where Tan-Tan is located said that eight people were hospitalised.

Road accidents are frequent in Morocco, where officials say about 4,000 people are killed each year — equivalent to about 12 each day.

The worst road accident claimed the lives of 42 people in September 2012, and also occurred in southern Morocco.

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