Morocco’s newly launched high speed train hit and killed a man on Friday, December 14. ONCF reported the man died by suicide.
Rabat – Morocco’s high-speed-train (LGV), which runs more than 320 kilometers per hour, made an emergency stop on Friday evening in Sidi Lyamani near Tangier after it had hit and killed a man.
The man died at approximately 6:55 p.m. after he threw himself at the high speed train, announced the National Railway Office (ONCF).
In a statement, ONCF apologized to passengers for the delays that affected LGV lines following the incident. The company’s apology over the delays has angered some Moroccan commentators who accused it of “disrespecting” the deceased man.
King Mohammed VI and French President Emmanuel Macron inaugurated the high speed train, the first in Africa, on November 15. The train is named “Al Boraq, ” and connects Tangier to Casablanca with stops in Rabat and Kenitra.
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The project cost €2 billion. According to BFMTV, the French government financed 51 percent of the project through various loans, including a €220 million grant by the French Development Agency (AFD).
In October 2017, AFD granted Morocco a loan of €80 million to fund the last segment of the Tangier-Casablanca high speed train project.
This followed the French agency’s initial grant of €220 million in 2011 to start the project.
