At least 7 killed as train derails in Morocco

World Today

rail accidentThis picture taken on October 16, 2018 shows the scene of a rail accident in the Moroccan town of Bouknadel, between the capital Rabat and the port city of Kenitra to its north. (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP)

The Moroccan state news agency is reporting that at least 7 people have been killed in the derailment of a shuttle train on Tuesday.

Abdellatif Soudou, deputy mayor of the city of Sale, said rescue workers are searching for passengers who may still be trapped in the wreckage.

The train jumped the tracks in Sidi Bouknadel, a town near Sale in the northwestern part of the country.

civil defence are seen at the scene of a rail accident

Members of the Moroccan civil defence are seen at the scene of a rail accident in the town of Bouknadel, between the capital Rabat and the port city of Kenitra to its north, on October 16, 2018. (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP)

The official Moroccan news agency says a train that derailed Tuesday was a shuttle linking the capital, Rabat, to the town of Kenitra, further north on the coast.

The MAP agency’s first reports on the derailment said there were deaths and injuries but didn’t have details.

MAP says the Moroccan king, Mohammed VI, has offered to pay the funeral costs for victims’ families out of his own pocket.

The news agency reported that the king also instructed that the injured be treated in a military hospital in Rabat.

Morocco’s railways company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.