Bus crash kills player, assistant coach in Algerian soccer’s top league, matches postponed

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — The Algerian Football Federation said late Wednesday that a bus crash has killed two members of its Ligue 1 side Mouloudia El Bayadh and that it would postpone all games scheduled for this week.

The federation said the accident killed El Bayadh reserve goalkeeper Zakaria Bouziani, 27, and assistant coach Khalid Muftah. Bouziani made two league appearances this season.

“It is with immense sadness that the president of the Algerian Football Federation, Walid Sadia . . . learned of the tragic road accident which left the club in mourning. MC El-Bayadh, playing in professional Ligue 1 Mobilis, and which led to the death of two members of this club,” the federation said in a statement translated from French.

Local media said the bus carrying the team overturned in the town of Sougueur in northwestern Algeria on the way to Tizi Ouzou to play JSK Kabylie in a league game on Friday. The club said on social media that other injured team members were in stable condition.

“In the wake of the painful tragedy that befell Algerian football . . . the Algerian Football Federation decided to suspend all football activities scheduled for the end of this week across the entire country,” it said in a later statement.

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