Passenger train derails in Morocco, at least 7 killed

A shuttle train linking the Moroccan capital to a town farther north on the Atlantic coast derailed Tuesday

A shuttle train linking the Moroccan capital to a town farther north on the Atlantic coast derailed Tuesday, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens, Moroccan authorities and the state news agency said. (Photo | AFP) 

National railway company boss Mohamed Rabie Khlie earlier gave a death toll of six, including the driver and his assistant, and said 86 people were injured. (Photo | AFP)

A short statement from the ONCF national railway company said 'an investigation has been opened to determine the causes of the accident' and pledged to provide more information when it had it. (Photo | AFP)

The shuttle train linking Rabat to the town of Kenitra derailed about halfway between the two, in the town of Sidi Bouknadel, near the city of Sale. (Photo | AFP)

Sale Deputy Mayor Abdellatif Soudou said rescue workers were searching for passengers who might be trapped in the twisted wreckage of the train. Dozens were injured in the derailment, Soudou said. (Photo | AFP)

An AFP photographer saw rescue teams work to retrieve bodies from the overturned train after its carriages had toppled across the tracks.

Railway boss Khlie said that such deadly accidents were rare in the North African country, pointing to a crash in 1993 that killed 15 people as 'the last one'. (Photo | AFP)

The Moroccan king, Mohammed VI, offered to pay the costs of the victims' funerals out of his own pocket, MAP reported. (Photo | AFP)