Rabat:
At least 42 people were killed on Tuesday when a bus travelling between Marrakesh and Ouarzazate in southern Morocco plunged into a ravine, a security official said.
All the victims were Moroccan, a local official told AFP. "But we are still in the process of identifying the bodies, as well as the injured," he added.
The accident took place when the vehicle left a main road in Haouz province, around 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Marrakesh, one of Morocco's top tourist destinations.
The crash also left some 25 people injured, who were taken to different hospitals in the region, according to a local official.
The MAP news agency, which said the bus fell 150 metres (165 yards), gave the same death toll of 42, saying that five of the victims died in hospital, and that 24 people were injured in the crash, four of them critically.
It was the worst bus crash recorded in Morocco, which has a poor road safety record. In November 2010, 24 people drowned when a bus carrying workmen tumbled into a river near the capital Rabat.