A head-on collision in Morocco between a truck and bus carrying athletes has killed at least 31 people and left nine injured, officials and media reports say.

MAP news agency, quoting local officials, said two of the wounded were in a serious condition.

Several private media outlets said the bus was transporting young athletes and their coach from a competition in the north of the country when it caught fire after the collision near the southern city of Tan-Tan.

Most of the victims were killed by the fire that broke out on the bus straight after the crash, local media said.

The bus was heading from the capital Rabat to Laayoune in Western Sahara.

Mohamed Azzaz, a local health official in the Guelmim-Smara region where the bus crashed, said eight people were hospitalised.

Road accidents are frequent in Morocco, where officials say about 4,000 people are killed each year – equivalent to about 12 each day.

The worst road accident claimed the lives of 42 people in September 2012, and also occurred in southern Morocco.

AFP/Reuters