.png)
31 die in head-on collision in Morocco
Officials report that 31 people have died in a head on collision involving a lorry and a bus carrying mostly school students
Officials say that a head-on collision between a bus and lorry in Morocco has killed 31 people, many of them young athletes. Nine others are reported to have been injured near the southern city of Tan-Tan.
Many of the victims were reportedly killed by a fire which broke out following the crash, according to local media.
The accident is said to have happened on the road between the capital, Rabat, and Laayoune, a city in the Western Sahara. Local media confirmed that the accident took place early on Friday morning in the rural district of Chbika, near Tan-Tan.
Le360.ma local news site reported that many of those on board the bus were school students participating in a national sports competition and that the lorry involved was a petrol tanker, with a "terrible explosion" following the collision.
Road accidents have been on the rise in Morocco as car ownership has nearly doubled over the last 15 years, according to Reuters news agency. The agency reports that an average of 10 people are estimated to die every day in road accidents.
