RABAT, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- A total of seven people were killed when two cars collided on Saturday near the tourist city of Saidia in eastern Morocco, local media reported.

The accident took place on the road linking Saidia and Ahfir. Local authorities, security and civil defence services rushed to the scene and an investigation has been launched, Le360.ma news site said.

A total of 3,499 people were killed in road accidents in Morocco in 2017, down 2.62 percent from a year earlier, according to the Moroccan Transport Ministry.

In 2016, the Moroccan government adopted a new national road safety strategy aiming at reducing the fatalities in road accidents by 25 percent in 2021 and 50 percent by 2026.