Moroccan authorities on Sunday said that 11 people died and nine were missing in flooding caused by an "exceptional" climate phenomenon in southern areas.

Interior ministry spokesman Rachid Khalfi said authorities recorded an initial "toll of 11 deaths" after "heavy thunderstorms" that hit "17 prefectures and provinces in the kingdom".

Among the victims, seven died in the province of Tata, some 740km (460 miles) south of Rabat, and two in Errachidia, almost 500km east of Marrakesh, according to Khalfi.

He said one of the victims had foreign citizenship, without providing further details.

Khalfi also said "the volume of precipitation recorded in two days is equivalent to that which these regions normally experience during an entire year".

The floods also caused the collapse of 40 homes and damaged 93 roads, and "affected electricity, drinking water and telephone networks", he added.

Usually arid areas in southern Morocco and Algeria have been drenched in floods caused by massive rainfall since Friday, officials told Agence France-Presse on Sunday.

Areas in southern Morocco have been affected "by an extremely unstable tropical air mass", the spokesman for the Moroccan General Directorate of Meteorology, Lhoussaine Youabd, said.

This "led to the formation of unstable and violent clouds" that caused massive rainfall, he said, describing the phenomenon as "exceptional".

As a result, the Ouarzazate region received 47mm of water in three hours, and Tagounite, near the Algerian border, some 170mm, according to the Moroccan weather service.

Death toll from floods in southeastern Morocco rises to 18

Interior Ministry reports 4 people still missing, infrastructure suffered extensive damage

The number of people who died in floods caused by heavy rainfall in southeastern Morocco has risen to 18, local authorities said Monday.

In a statement, the Interior Ministry said fatalities were caused by severe storms and floods.