Beni Mellal – It was a Saturday morning like any other when Hiba left home for school. She never arrived. The 13-to-15-year-old schoolgirl – sources give varying ages – vanished without a trace in the commune of Ouaouizeght, in the mountainous province of Azilal in central Morocco. That was five days ago, and she has still not been found.
Her family raised the alarm after she failed to return home and did not board the school transport bus that ferries students from remote areas to institutions in the town center. She had spent Friday night at her sister’s home, which sits close to her school, and left the following morning. No one saw where she went after that.
The first concrete lead came when searchers found her school bag and umbrella near the bank of a river close to the entrance of the Ouaouizeght municipal center.
Days later, according to the Arabic-language daily Assabah, clothing items – including two pairs of trousers – were found under a bridge over the same river, with her shoes discovered a short distance away. The finds pointed investigators toward the river and raised fears she may have been swept away by floodwaters.
Authorities have since deployed an extensive operation. The Royal Gendarmerie mobilized helicopter units that flew at low altitude over the riverbanks, the surrounding rugged terrain, and the mouth of Bin el Ouidane lake.
Specialized teams equipped with tracker dogs trained to operate in difficult conditions – including muddy terrain and waterways – combed the valley and areas inaccessible on foot. A diving team was also brought in to search pools and water channels in the area.
Civil protection units, auxiliary forces, and gendarmes have been conducting systematic sweeps of mountain slopes, forested zones, and river corridors.
Local volunteers from Ouaouizeght and surrounding communities joined the effort, searching ravines, thickets, and water bodies alongside official teams. The provincial governor has been following the operation directly from the field.
In parallel with the ground search, the Royal Gendarmerie has opened a judicial investigation. Investigators have been interviewing people from Hiba’s close circle, reconstructing her movements on the morning of her disappearance, and examining all possible scenarios – including an accidental drowning, getting lost, or an assault. No hypothesis has been ruled out, according to local sources.
The chances of finding her alive diminish with every passing hour, noted the Assabah report. The paper cited local sources as acknowledging that speculation about a worst-case scenario involving a violent crime has circulated, though investigators have not confirmed this line of inquiry.
Hiba’s family has been living through days of anguish as search operations continue with no conclusive results. As authorities press on to find answers, her disappearance has gripped the entire region, drawing widespread solidarity from residents who have taken part in the search or are closely following developments.