RABAT: At least seven people were killed on Wednesday when a river burst its banks and flooded a village football pitch where a game was being played in south Morocco, local authorities said.
The victims included a 17-year-old boy and six elderly men attending the match in the village of Tizert, in Taroudant region.
Searchers had rescued one man who was injured by the flood and were looking for another missing person, officials said.
The river overflowed and submerged the pitch where an amateur football tournament was under way, a resident said.
Eight men who took refuge in the changing rooms were swept away by the floodwaters, the witness, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.
“We’re in shock. I’m 64 years old and I’ve never seen such a downpour,” the witness said.
Photographs and videos shared on social media showed muddy waters carrying away people who had clambered on top of a building flattened by the flooding.
Morocco’s national weather service had warned of the risk of stormy rains on Wednesday afternoon in several provinces.
The heavy downpour followed a dry spell, making the floods more violent, local media reported.
Floods are common in Morocco. In late July, 15 people died in a landslide caused by flash floods on a road south of Marrakesh.
Most of the victims were swept away by a sudden flash flood while watching a football game on a pitch built next to a dry river near the village of Tizert, a local resident who asked not to be named said, confirming videos shared on social media showing the scene.
The southern Moroccan mountains, known as the Anti-Atlas, are arid and rarely receive rain in the summer. In 2014, floods killed around 50 people and caused considerable damage in the south of the country.
A study published in 2015 pointed to multiple failures in infrastructure maintenance, prevention, warning and emergency management.
— AFP
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