Floods in Morocco kill 17 with dozens missing after heavy rain destroys houses, cars and roads

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Stranded: Drivers wait for help in flood waters in Ouarzazate, Morocco

At least 17 people have been killed and dozens more are missing after severe flooding in Morocco.

Heavy rain on Saturday and Sunday destroyed houses, vehicles and roads, with dramatic pictures showing cars swept off highways and people stranded amid torrents of fast-flowing water.

The army has sent helicopters to evacuate dozens of people, and the country's King Mohamed has ordered authorities to take "all necessary emergency measures to help and support victims of the floods".

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Destroyed: A car is carried away by the raging flood waters

But rescue workers face increasing anger from residents in the effected areas who have protested over the slow response to previous floods.

In the town of Errachidia, where 60 houses have been destroyed, one woman said: "We have lost everything, everything. Now our families will sleep in the cold.

"Their [the authorities'] previous programmes to restore our mud houses did not save us, our hoses were just swept away."

Morocco's official MAP news agency reports that 13 of those who have lost their lives, as well as the majority of the 18 who remain unaccounted for, were from the desert town of Guelmim.

Some local news websites put the latest death toll at 20, and said it could still rise further.