A road accident killed 11 people among agricultural workers on the outskirts of the Moroccan capital of Rabat after a car collided with a tree trunk last Wednesday night, local press reported. Sources for the news site said that 23 of the 35 female workers were transferred to the Ibn Sina University Hospital in Rabat, but 3 of them died in addition to eight previous deaths.
The same sources said the victims of the accident were female farm workers aged between 25 and 45 who were returning from work before the car they were carrying hit a tree trunk after one of its tires exploded, causing the driver loses control of it.
Most serious injuries were recorded at head level, according to the same source, who indicated that minor injuries “were recorded in women who chose to sit rather than stand while traveling from the village to their destination.” In recent years, fatal traffic accidents have repeatedly claimed the lives of dozens of agricultural workers due to the conditions of their transportation, not provided with safety and security.
And in September last year, the Federation of the League for Women’s Rights issued a statement calling on the government and relevant authorities to take “effective and serious measures to end the bleeding of peasant working lives on the roads.” The non-governmental human rights body has called for the provision of safe and suitable vehicles, the improvement of agricultural roads and trails, the training and education of agricultural workers on safety and health issues, and increased oversight. applying the necessary sanctions to violators.
