Six people, including four students, were killed in a traffic accident Saturday evening on the regional road connecting Ghasat and Dmanat in the province of Ouarzazate, local authorities and rights groups reported. Another student remains in critical condition in intensive care.
Among the victims were four middle school students from Ghasat, along with the driver and his assistant, who were parents of some of the students.
Civil society organizations criticized the government for failing to implement preventive measures along dangerous mountain roads. The accident has reignited debate over the country’s reliance on poorly maintained minibuses and informal “dual transport” services in rural and mountainous areas.
“The infrastructure in these mountainous areas reflects a ‘two-speed Morocco,’” said El Hossein Msahat, a member of the National Secretariat of the Civil Coalition for the Mountains. “There is an urgent need for safe transport routes, as the existing system puts citizens’ lives at risk.”
Idris Sderawi, president of the Moroccan League for Citizenship and Human Rights, echoed these concerns, calling the accident a symptom of long-standing disparities in road infrastructure and services between urban and rural areas. “This tragedy is not isolated. It highlights the structural neglect of rural regions despite repeated royal calls for equitable development,” Sderawi said.
He called for a comprehensive national plan to improve rural transportation and infrastructure, ensure road safety, and address what he described as “territorial discrimination” in access to public services.
Rights groups also emphasized the urgent need for safer alternatives to the current informal transport system, which remains a daily risk to human life in Morocco’s mountainous and rural regions.
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