Morocco : 7 dead and several injured in a cargo ship explosion in Jorf Lasfar

Seven people are dead and several injured, Thursday, after an explosion followed by a fire on the Panamanian ship Toro Rosso near the port of Jorf Lasfar, a provisional report indicates.  

The Ministry of Health and Social Protection said the bodies of several victims had been removed from the scene of the tragedy, while three people transferred to Casablanca later succumbed to their injuries.

The tragedy occurred about 8 nautical miles from the port site on Thursday morning onboard the ship. Chartered by an Ethiopian company, the ship was about to load a cargo of fertilizer «when suddenly a violent explosion was heard». An ensuing fire engulfed the engine compartment of the maritime vehicle, on which there were about twenty crew members of various nationalities.

Once the alert was raised, Civil Protection and local authorities in El Jadida were mobilized to control the fire, with the intervention including a gendarmerie helicopter. This allowed for the evacuation of the dead and injured.