Flash flooding left at least 37 people dead in a city on Morocco’s Atlantic coast, the North African country’s deadliest such incident in more than two decades.
Search and rescue operations remained underway in Safi on Monday after heavy rains struck parts of the city the day before, the state-run MAP news agency reported.
Safi’s densely inhabited historic center bore the brunt of the floods, according to Khalil Sidki, a member of the local branch of Moroccan human-rights advocacy group AMDH.
Safi, which is home to about 350,000 people and famed for its artisan pottery, lies some 200 miles (320 kilometers) south of Morocco’s capital, Rabat. Authorities ordered a judicial probe into the events, and shuttered schools and colleges for three days, MAP reported.
The kingdom has suffered successive droughts in recent years, drying out soil that can then struggle to absorb sustained rainfall. Parts of Morocco were hit by rains and snow over the weekend.
A “lack of infrastructure and years of drought” contributed to the situation, AMDH’s Sidki — who witnessed the destruction — said by phone.
At least two people are still in intensive care, while others were discharged after receiving medical treatment, MAP said, giving the latest death toll.
The floods were Morocco’s deadliest since torrential rains in 2002 inundated farming areas in the west of the country and claimed 60 lives.
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