A bus crash east of Casablanca, Morocco, on Wednesday left 23 people dead, a health official said, marking one of the deadliest accidents of the sort in recent years.

The bus overturned on a bend of a motorway in Khouribga, a province in the northwest of the country, in the morning, local authorities said, giving an initial toll of 15 dead.

Regional health director Rochdi Kaddar later revised the death toll up to 23, and media reports said another 36 people were injured in the crash.

The injured were taken to a hospital in Khouribga, and an investigation has been opened into the accident. 

Road accidents, often deadly, are relatively frequent in Morocco and neighboring countries.

These sorts of accidents lead to an average of 3,500 deaths in Morocco and 12,000 injuries, data provided by the National Road Safety Agency said, with an average of 10 deaths per day.

Less than a month ago, a public transport vehicle colliding with a truck on the Eastern Desert Road in Mallawi Center of Minya Governorate, southern Egypt, killed at least 22 people and injured 33.