Floods in Morocco: Minister of Interior Blames Drivers for High Death Toll

Rabat- Following the floods that killed at least 36 people and left 6 others missing over the weekend, Moroccan Minister of Interior, Mohamed Hassad, blamed drivers for the high death toll in what has been described as one of the country’s worst natural disasters.

Over 36 people were killed and 6 others are still missing due to the floods that hit the Morocco’s southern regions over the weekend.

During a session of oral questions at the lower house the parliament on Tuesday, the opposition parties strongly criticized the government’s lack of responsiveness in dealing with the floods, saying that it “failed in handling the situation and should be held responsible for the high number of casualties.”

In response to these accusations, Mohamed Hassad called on the opposition parties to abstain from capitalizing on last weekend’s flood tragedy.
In his defense of the government’s handling of the floods, Mohammed Hassad put the blame on the drivers, saying that their decision to travel through the areas threatened by floods, despite warnings issued by the government, is the main cause of the high death toll.

’It was not a sudden heavy rain… the National Weather Service (NWS) warned of the Heavy thundery showers that were expected to hit the southern region, but the driver’s lack of response to these warnings resulted in the high number of casualties,’’ Mohamed Hassad said.

The Minister went on to add that on Saturday, the driver of a bus carrying 15 people, decided to cross the Bridge of Timissourt River, near Bouizegrane, despite the floods. ‘’As a result, 14 of the passengers- among whom a 9-year-old child and three women- were killed after the bus was swept away by floods,’’ he explained.

The Minister also noted that 14 other people were killed while riding three taxis, after their drivers blindly decided to cross through embankments threatened by floods, despite the NWS’ warnings.

Mohamed Hassad said that the Fire Department managed to rescue 432 people from floods. ‘’94 of them were rescued by helicopter,’’ he concluded.

Reporting from Rabat by Aziz Allilou