RABAT: Morocco has begun investigating the death of a French-Moroccan after he and another Moroccan tourist on jet skis were shot dead by Algerian coastguards, media reports said on Friday.

There has still been no official comment from either Algiers or Rabat about Tuesday’s incident at a time of increased tensions between the two North African countries.

The Moroccan prosecutor’s office opened an investigation on Friday into the death of one of the young men, Bilal Kissi, “after the discovery of his body on the beach at Saidia”, the websites Al Omk and Goud.ma reported.

Saidia is a popular summer seaside resort near the border with Algeria and is known for its long beach and water sports.

Bilal Kissi, who lived in France, had left Saidia with his older brother Mohamed, their Moroccan cousin Abdelali Mechouar and their friend Smail Snabe, also said to be French-Moroccan, on jet skis on Tuesday.

“We got lost but we kept going until we found ourselves in Algeria,” Mohamed Kissi was quoted as saying by Al Omk on Thursday.

“We knew we were in Algeria because a black Algerian dinghy came towards us” and those on board “fired at us”.

After the shooting, Mohamed Kissi was able to get back to Morocco and report what had happened.

He told authorities after being picked up by the navy that the four friends had got lost and run out of fuel.

Mechouar’s body is still in Algeria, Moroccan media reported on Friday, adding that Snabe had been wounded and was being detained by the authorities there.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2023