Morocco: Train in deadly crash was going more than twice speed limit

Wreckage of a train after it derailed in the town of Sidi Bouknadel between Rabat and the northwestern city of Kenitra in Morocco on 16 October, 2018 [Jalal Morchidi/Aadolu Agency]

The driver of a train that crashed in Morocco on 16 October, killing at least seven, was travelling more than twice the speed limit on the section of track where it derailed, a regional prosecutor said.

The crash, in which 125 other passengers were injured, occurred near the Moroccan capital Rabat.

The driver, who has been arrested, was travelling at 158 kilometres per hour instead of the 60 kilometre speed limit, the prosecutor at a court in Sale near Rabat said in a statement.

Mohamed Rabie Khlie, head of the kingdom’s national railway company ONCF, said: “The derailment has killed six people according to the latest count and left 86 injured in serious condition.

“An investigation has been opened to determine the causes of the accident.”

Read: Hundreds protest rampant corruption, bribery in Morocco

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