Casablanca, Morocco – Several Liberians are among some 450 passengers stranded in transit at the Mohammed V Airport in Casablanca, Morocco after the Royal Air Maroc Airline failed to provide them a flight.
Report by Mae Azango – [email protected]
The Liberians were scheduled to depart Morocco since Sunday and sources say they have more time to wait as airport authorities were going to take at least 48 hours to resolve the situation.
According to unconfirmed report, a Liberian woman was injured very seriously after the stranded passengers embarked upon a strike action.
The Air Maroc flight was bound for Liberia, Guinea and Togo, sources told FrontPageAfrica.
Reports gathered also say the authority has refused to provide food and water for its stranded passengers at the airport even though a riot Police was called to calm the situation.
A Liberia passenger, who feared that the process is far from being resolved, told this paper Tuesday that it may take days before they leave if nothing is done.
Stranded passengers, weary of sleep are lying in the corridors of the Mohammed V International Airport as authorities seem not to be listening to their quest for comfort or basic needs.
Guards prevented journalists from seeing the manager of the airline for comments.
Oumu Soh was uneasy and worried, but yet prevented by security from seeing the Royal Air Morac Airline Manager, when she walked into Royal Air Maroc office in Monrovia.
Oumu is one of the many persons who family members have been stranded in Morocco since Sunday, due to the shortage of Air Plane.
“I have three family members who have been in Morocco since Sunday and they told me there is no airplane to bring them to Liberia,” she lamented in an interview with this reporter.”
“I am very worried because they have not eaten any food and they are prevented from coming out of the airport because they do not have any visa for Morocco.
“The Security is still refusing for me to see the manager because he said the manager is very busy seeing other people.”
Like Oumu, many other people were waiting in the Airlines Office to see the manager, as no employee was allowed to speak to anyone.
Information has it, that there are many passengers who came from different counties, are stranded like the African passengers from Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Togo and Ivory Coast.
“I have my sister coming but she is still in Morocco, so we are trying to find another way for her to pass through Ivory Coast and come to Liberia,” said another passenger, who refused to call his name.
The Transport Ministry through its Press and Public Affairs Officer Samuel Barjibo said he or his Ministry was not aware of the situation unfolding in Morocco, but said he would follow up the following day.
In September, passengers of Royal Air Moroc warned the public against flying onboard the airline or be willing to have their luggage go missing or items stolen from them.
Several passengers boarding the flight between Freetown and Europe, via Casablanca told FrontPage Africa that they frequently lost their luggage onboard the flight and had not gotten any redress.
But the Country Manager for Royal Air Maroc in Liberia, Loudyi Mohammed Amine then apologized for the incident.
However, some recent victims of the apparent luggage theft onboard the flight told this paper that despite a full record of their movements and a barcoded baggage tag, Royal Air Maroc could not even locate their luggage for the past three weeks running.
They expressed frustration over the predicament Royal Air Moroc had put them in, nothing that there was a need it stopped.
The victims told FrontPage Africa that Royal Air Maroc had not even bothered to reply or react in any other constructive manner concerning their missing luggage.
One of the victims who also lost his luggage onboard Royal Air Morac flight from New York, Success Dennis, said it was getting unbearable to constantly see an international airline institution engaging in “dubious” activities with specific focus on the alleged stealing of their luggage.
“For me I see this airline as a dubious airline. I will get my all my luggage back, the management of this airline cannot tell me my bags lost and they expect me to let it go just like that,” Dennis said.
“It is frustrating for me as passenger to lose all that I was coming with,” he said.
Another passenger Thiermon Diallo described the situation as a dream, expressing skepticism over whether or not he would ever get redress since he was an ordinary person.
“I pray strongly that I get my luggage from that airline as soon as possible because I brought lot of things for people and I paid for them at the airline but I don’t know why they will even treat me that way by not bringing my bags,” he complained.
Some of the victimized passengers said they were tired with the poor customer services at Air Morac, nothing that there was a need it stopped.
“The aircraft resembles flying rubbish bins, and communication en route is minimal even if something goes wrong, such as an unplanned detour.”
“If you do decide to risk it, my advice is to travel with hand luggage only, especially if you are connecting through Casablanca.”
“I have heard testimonies, though, of luggage disappearing on point-to-point flights destination,” Kelley Morris, a victim told the FrontPage Africa.
“They stole my bags and my luggage, since the past three weeks I been coming here for my items but any time I come here they always tell me to wait, this airline is a 4-1-9 entity and it can no longer be trusted, there are many thieves working on the flight,” Timothy Giddings noted angrily.