ONCF Ordered to Pay $50,000 After Fatal Escalator Accident at Rabat Station

Following this tragedy, the child’s mother filed a complaint in which she invoked the responsibility of the Office. After several hearings, the administrative court held the ONCF’s liability in this tragedy and decided to finally rule on the verdict.

Thus, the ONCF will have to compensate the mother of the deceased child to the tune of 500,000 DH in reparation of the moral prejudice suffered.

To recall, the child fell while climbing the escalator within the station, part of the glass railing of which had been removed. He then fell into the void 10 m from the ground.

According to the findings of the police of the 3rd Agdal district who went to the scene after the accident, the child was accompanied by his father, of Iraqi nationality. The two passengers, coming from Kénitra, had arrived at the Rabat-Agdal station around 9:45 p.m.

The mother had publicized the case on social networks. "His father did not hesitate for a moment to respond to her request by taking him to the Rabat-Agdal station to make a round trip to Kénitra," recounts the child’s mother in a post on the Instagram page "Justice for Omar". Things did not go as planned. "Back in Rabat, they headed for the open escalator on the day of the tragedy, which was not the subject of any signage or barrier despite its breakdown. It was only a few steps before reaching the floor that Omar, alongside his father, fell. A 10-meter fall that cost him his life, and mine," the mother continues.

Following this message, an anonymous source within the ONCF had reacted. "There was an escalator used by football fans, who had broken a window. We therefore condemned this escalator and stopped it, it was no longer working, pending the replacement of the window," she explained to Hespress. She continues: "The escalator was closed to use, with signage and marking prohibiting access. Under improbable circumstances, the child took this escalator with his father (the mother was not there), and the regrettable accident occurred. Recordings attesting to all this exist and have been handed over to the investigators."