Moroccan emergency crews pulled 15 bodies from the mud after a rare summer downpour triggered a landslide that buried a minibus, authorities said Friday, providing the first official toll.
The victims — eleven women, three men and one child — were found in the bus buried some 20 metres (more than 60 feet) under the masses of earth and rock dislodged by the rain, local authorities said.
“There are no survivors,” they said in a statement.
The official toll comes after public broadcaster 2M reported Friday morning that 16 bodies had been recovered.
The bus was buried Wednesday evening when a deluge in the Atlas mountains south of Marrakesh triggered flash flooding.
Images released by the authorities show excavators working to dig a path to the bus, more than 24 hours after it was engulfed by the debris.
A weather alert on Tuesday warned of storms in several provinces in the North African country, which rarely receives summer rains.
Investment in Morocco’s road network has largely focused on the main transport arteries and many rural areas can be reached only by dirt tracks that are vulnerable to extreme weather.
Every year, nearly 3,500 people are killed on the North African country’s roads.
AFP
