A bus collided with a fuel tanker in southern Morocco on Friday, a fiery crash that killed at least 35 people — most of them children — state and local media reported.
The accident caused a fire that hollowed out the bus, leaving little more than its frame. Debris scattered across the road, while smoke rose into the sky, videos posted to social media show.
The dead included athletes traveling for a sporting competition, an eyewitness told 2M TV, a Moroccan state-owned network.
After the crash, photos appeared on social media of young, smiling boys in soccer uniforms along with condolence messages such as “May God have mercy on them” and “Oh no, they are so young.”
The crash happened near the city of Tan-Tan just before 7 a.m., the Maghreb Arabe Presse state news agency reported. It said a number of people were also injured.
Tan-Tan is near the country’s Atlantic coast, more than 450 kilometers (about 280 miles) southwest of Marrakesh.