Following this tragic accident, "His Majesty the King, Amir Al Mouminine (Commander of the Faithful) (and) Supreme Commander of the Royal Armed Forces, has decided to decree a three-day national mourning period starting Tuesday, with the national flag flown at half-mast," reported the Moroccan news agency MAP.
The crash on Tuesday of a military aircraft, a Hercules C-130, near Guelmim in southwestern Morocco, caused the death of all passengers and crew members, according to the latest official toll.
This is the deadliest air accident in Morocco's history, according to military and hospital sources.
The plane was carrying 80 people, the majority of whom were military personnel, along with about ten civilians. According to the Moroccan army, the accident was "due to poor weather conditions".
In 1994, an ATR 42 type aircraft crashed near Agadir in the south of the country. That accident resulted in 44 deaths.
News 26 Jul 2011 1 min read
Three days of national mourning for the victims of the plane crash
King Mohammed VI of Morocco has decreed a three-day national mourning starting from Tuesday, in tribute to the 80 passengers killed on Tuesday in the accident of a Moroccan military plane that crashed against a mountain in the south-west of the country, it was indicated in Rabat from an official source.
