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Rabat – The brother of one of the French-Moroccan victims who were murdered by Algerian coast guards on Tuesday has provided illuminating details about how the tragedy unfolded.
Mohammed Kessi, one of the survivors and the brother of Bilal Kessi, who was murdered by Algerian coast guards, confirmed that he, his brother, and their friends were fired on while enjoying a jet ski ride after lunch.
Following lunch in Saidia marina, they decided to go for a jet ski ride, but due to the weather, the three found themselves swept away and lost in Algerian waters.
“We knew we were in Algeria because an Algerian coast guard approached us, maneuvering in a zigzag pattern,” the victim’s brother said, strongly rejecting claims that the victims had attempted to run away when they were discovered by the Algerian coast guard.
“On the contrary, I saw my brother talking to them. I don’t know what they were talking about,” he said, but he also suggested that his brother was engaging with the Algerian guards in an attempt to seek help about how the lost jet ski riders could return to Moroccan waters.
“I saw my brother showing me the way with his hands. When we were heading back, the coast guards opened fire on us. Five bullets were opened against my brother and my friend,” recalled. “I was sitting next to my jet ski. Thank God, I wasn’t injured,” the brother explained, noting that he tried to reach out to his brother and his friend but no one responded.
“Then,” he went on to stress, “I heard my brother saying ‘yes’ but he splashed into the water right after and died.”
Read also: Outrage After Algerian Coast Guards Killed Two Moroccans Lost at Sea Near Saidia
The victim’s brother said that he was swept away by the water and he feared to be drifted back to Algerian territory.
“I left the jet ski and swam back to Saidia, where I met with Moroccan Royal guards and I told them everything. They then went to see what had happened,” he said.
As the Moroccan coast guards did not find the victims’ bodies, they returned to take Mohammed back to the shore.
A disturbing video has since gone viral online documenting the moment when a Moroccan fisherman discovered the lifeless body of the young man off the coast of Saidia.
The body of the second victim, a friend of the deceased, and the other surviving victim remain stranded on the Algerian coastline near the border point of Borsai, a municipality in the city of Tlemcen.
The royal gendarmerie in the city of Saidia in coordination with local authorities have opened an investigation into the case.
Meanwhile, Morocco’s government has responded to questions regarding the tragedy by stressing that the case “falls under the jurisdiction of the judicial authority.”
The tragic and heinous murder of the Moroccan victims caused an uproar among many Moroccan citizens who regretted the incident and called on authorities to take the necessary measures against the Algerian coast guards involved in the killing of the young men.
