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Deadly floods hit Morocco after ‘a years’ worth of rain in 2 days’

Usually arid areas in southern Morocco and Algeria have been drenched in floods caused by massive rainfall since Friday, officials said

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A car drives through a flooded street in Morocco’s Zagora region on Saturday. Photo: AFP
Agence France-Presse

Moroccan authorities on Sunday said that 11 people died and nine were missing in flooding caused by an “exceptional” climate phenomenon in southern areas.

Interior ministry spokesman Rachid Khalfi said authorities recorded an initial “toll of 11 deaths” after “heavy thunderstorms” that hit “17 prefectures and provinces in the kingdom”.

Among the victims, seven died in the province of Tata, some 740km (460 miles) south of Rabat, and two in Errachidia, almost 500km east of Marrakesh, according to Khalfi.

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He said one of the victims had foreign citizenship, without providing further details.

A collapsed house after flooding in Morocco’s Zagora region on Friday. Photo: AFP
A collapsed house after flooding in Morocco’s Zagora region on Friday. Photo: AFP

Khalfi also said “the volume of precipitation recorded in two days is equivalent to that which these regions normally experience during an entire year”.

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