Rabat – Three Guinean students have died in a car accident in Rabat, creating a climate of sadness in a community that was preparing to celebrate New Year’s eve together.
The accident occurred Wednesday morning around 4 a.m. as the students returned from a concert where a Guinean pop music group was scheduled to perform, friends of the students told Morocco World News. According to friends and relatives, the car rolled, and the driver could not stabilize the vehicle.
Bintou Toure, Souleymane Fofana, and Amadou Bah were all students in Rabat.
Aseguim, the organization of Guinean students in Morocco, and CESAM, the organization of sub-Saharan students, have paid tribute to the three students.
Friends described Toure as a “devout and reliable element of the community who will be greatly missed.”
“Bintou Toure was a very active and sympathetic member of the community. She compelled friendship because she was so open and caring,” one close friend said. Toure had recently finished her undergraduate studies and was waiting for both her diploma and an acceptance letter from a Masters program for which she had applied. Fofana and Bah were both pursuing undergraduate studies.
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The president of Aseguim, Abdoulaye Barry, told Morocco World News that the tragic event comes as a terrible shock for the community of Guinean students. He explained there were five Guinean students involved in the car accident.
As the rear of the car was most impacted, the three who died were sitting in the back row, while the male in the driver’s seat and a female in the passenger seat survived the accident. The driver fled the scene for unknown reasons and has not been seen since, according to friends. People are searching for him.
The Guinean embassy in Rabat has suggested that all three bodies be repatriated to Guinea, but no decision has been made.
“The girl’s body will be repatriated. But the boys have sizable family in Morocco and they have decided that the bodies will be buried here,” Barry said.
The Guinean community is organizing a religious ceremony to pay tribute to the students’ memories. The ceremony will take place tomorrow after Friday prayers at the Guinean embassy in Rabat.
