Petition for 4 years in prison for those accused of a bus crash in Oued El Harrach – New Algeria

On Sunday, the Casablanca Misdemeanor Court dealt with the trial file of the defendants in the bus crash in Oued El Harrach, which killed 18 people and injured 23 others, in an incident that shocked national public opinion.

The Public Prosecutor requested the imposition of a 4-year prison sentence and a fine of 200,000 Algerian dinars on all defendants, in addition to the suspension of the driver’s license for two years for the vehicle owner, “H. Rafiq,” the accused bus driver, “D. Hamza,” and the conductor, “H. Noureddine,” in addition to the accused technical observer, “B. Jalal.”

The defendants were charged with misdemeanors of manslaughter, manslaughter, and endangering the lives and physical safety of others, including the driver and the ticket taker.

The technical inspector was charged with issuing a certificate containing incorrect facts, exposing the lives of others to error, and intentionally violating safety rules. As for the bus owner, he was charged with endangering the lives of others for using a technical control report containing incorrect facts.

According to the case file, the background of the accident dates back to August 16, 2025, after a bus fell into the valley slope at approximately 5:45 p.m. The incident required a massive intervention by civil protection teams, supported by specialized divers, to extract the victims from the valley waters and treat the injured, who were quickly transferred to the “Salim Zmirli” University Hospital in El Harrach to receive the necessary treatment. The accident led to the death of 18 people.

. During the trial session, the arrested bus owner, H.R., denied the charges against him and stated that the bus, which had been in operation since 2004, did not have any defects, adding that these defects appeared after the accident.

As for the driver, “Dr. Hamza,” he stated that on the day of the incidents, he made three trips from Darqana to the capital, and during the fourth trip he was traveling at a speed of 40 km. When he got on the bridge, he collided with a hole and the barrier, and there the bus stopped and remained stuck. He tried to save the situation, but he was unable, because the steering wheel stopped working completely. He confirmed that the cause of the accident was the hole and the steering wheel stopped working. He also denied that there was an overload on the bus.

For his part, the governor, H. Nasr al-Din, confirmed that he did not commit any mistake and that his responsibility was limited to boarding and disembarking passengers and collecting money only.

The fourth accused, the technical inspector, “B. Jalal,” also denied the charges against him, stressing that the certificate received by the bus owner is authentic and not forged.