Rabat – Morocco’s railway witnessed a tragedy on Tuesday, October 16, after ONCF’s No. 9 train between Casablanca and Kenitra derailed near Bouknadel.
The train killed 7 passengers and injured 125.
The tragedy Tuesday is the sixth major train accident on Moroccan railways in just over 25 years.
Read Also: Leaked Recording Blames Bouknadel Train Accident on Track, Speeding
The following is a timeline of major train accidents in Morocco.
September 28, 1993
At least 15 people died when a passenger train between Marrakech and Tangier collided with a cargo train in Temara, near Rabat.
The train was carrying 400 passengers.
It remains one of the deadliest train accidents in the history of Morocco.
August 2, 2012
At least 50 people were injured when three cars of a passenger train between Fez and Oujda, a city on the Algerian border, derailed near Fez on August 2 at about 6:40 p.m.
August 27, 2014
A train linking Casablanca with Fez derailed at the Zenara train station between Casablanca and Rabat. More than 30 people were injured while one person died.
January 13, 2018
On January 13, a train coming from Settat, a town near Casablanca, crashed into a light pole at the Casablanca Port train station.
February 17, 2018
A deadly crash involving a freight train and a personnel transport vehicle killed at least six people and injured 14 others early on a Saturday morning.
The freight train, which connected between Tangier and Tanger-Med, crashed with the personnel transport carrier in a manned railway crossing in the Beni Makada neighborhood.
October 16, 2018
The accident Tuesday was the third train accident sparking public fear this year. The public prosecutor has opened an investigation to determine the cause of the accident.
ONCF Director Rabie Khlie speculated that the issue might be technical. A leaked audio recording of ONCF workers implied that train drivers accelerated far above the speed limit for the area where the train derailed.
Read Also: Bouknadel’s Train Incident Death Toll Grows to 7, Public Prosecutor Opens Investigation
Workers also said that they have complained since Friday, October 12, to ONCF about a problem on that stretch of track, but the company did not properly communicate a lowered speed limit.
