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Rabat- Passengers who survived the Bouknadel train accident still suffered theft by individuals who pretended to help, only to loot from the train.
Many eyewitnesses recounted how some individuals took advantage of the accident to loot from the luggage of passengers.
The act has shocked and disgusted Moroccans.
Others claimed that some taxi drivers raised prices to transport the stranded passengers.
One survivor told Moroccan radio station Hit Radio that thieves stole from jackets, pockets, and luggage of shock-stricken passengers who could not do anything to stop them.
Read Also: Bouknadel Train Accident: Spain, Qatar Send Condolences to Morocco
“My money, my bag, my passport, my phone, everything was robbed,” the Moroccan man residing in Germany complained. “It was an apocalypse.”
He stated, “If it weren’t for the royal gendarmerie showing up only a quarter hour from the accident, everyone would have ended up stark naked” because of looters from nearby shantytowns.
However, the man was sympathetic, saying poverty was the real culprit because the looters were victims of poverty.
Read Also: #Baraka: Moroccans Call for Boycott of ONCF Trains
The survivor described how some of the people who genuinely wanted to help had no knowledge of first aid and pulled passengers out by their limbs, which may have exacerbated injuries.
The man wished that they had waited for the arrival of ambulances and civil protection forces to retrieve the injured.
“Half of the injured people were paralyzed because of the [inexperienced humanitarians].”
Comparing Moroccan authorities to those of Germany, the speaker said that the Moroccan civil protection forces did an “amazing” job and were very competent.
Train No. 9 linking Rabat and Kenitra on the Casablanca-Kenitra line derailed on Tuesday near Bouknadel at 10:20 a.m., killing 7 and injuring 125, according to the most recent statistics.
Neither the National Office of Railways (ONCF) nor the Moroccan government has yet given an official statement on the cause of the accidents.
According to a leaked recording of a phone conversation between ONCF employees, the train was running at 120 kilometers per hour, when it was supposed to run at 60 kilometers per hour in the area where it derailed.
One of the employees stated that problems on that stretch of track were noticed last Friday, however ONCF did not set speed limit signs, properly communicate the speed limit to drivers, or take it into consideration.
On the other hand, the Media and Press Department at the Ministry of Equipment told Morocco World News that they had no knowledge about the recording. The department emphasized that there should be “a scientific proof of what happened.”
Many Moroccans have expressed rage towards ONCF, blaming it for the accident after the recording blaming faulty tracks and speeding went viral.
Moroccans have begun an online campaign with hashtags “#Baraka” (enough) and “#Boycott ONCF” on Twitter and Facebook. ONCF, the only rail transport company in Morocco, is state-run with “financial autonomy” according to its website.
While many are calling for actions, hundreds of people have donated blood for the victims of the accident at the Regional Center for Blood Transfusion.
Many people in Rabat, including royal gendarmes volunteered to donate blood for the victims.
The center had taken 549 sacks of blood in the first 24 hours after the accident. The center only had to use 16 by mid-Wednesday, according to the head of the center, Mohammed Benajiba.
