Rabat- King Mohammed has decided to personally pay for the burial expenses of the victims of today’s ONCF train accident.
In a royal message issued on Tuesday at noon, King Mohammed VI expressed his deep condolences to the families and loved ones of the deceased victims, praying for the recovery of the injured.
The King instructed the interior minister to transfer wounded passengers to the military hospital in Rabat and gave strict instructions to determine the causes of the accident.
The minister of the interior, Abdelouafi Laftit; the minister of equipment, Abdelkader Amara; and Rabii Lakhli, the director of ONCF all came to the scene of the accident within hours.
So far, no reports on the causes of the accident have been published.
The train derailed on Tuesday around 10:30 a.m. near Bouknadel, between Rabat and Kenitra, killing as many as six people, including the train’s engineer.
All trains from Kenitra to Casablanca are currently on hold.
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The train conductor is severely injured and some of the passengers have lost limbs, eyewitnesses told Morocco World News. Eighty-six people have been wounded and seven have life-threatening injuries, according to ONCF Director Rabii Lakhlii.
Lakhlii has also conveyed his condolences to the families of the victims. However, he refrained from answering any further questions from Moroccan journalists which he considered controversial.
When asked by a Moroccan journalist at the scene how the accident happened following recent protests from Moroccans on ONCF delays, Lakhlii refused to comment, saying that it was “out of context.”
Three hours after the accident, Mohamed Najib Boulif, the secretary general of transport and Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani commented, sending condolences to the families of the victims.
The incident comes amid the final phase of ONCF’s plan to launch Morocco’s high speed train (LGV) between Casablanca and Tangier.
