COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norwegian police said Friday that a video which allegedly shows the slaying of a Scandinavian university student in a remote part of Morocco’s Atlas Mountains is likely authentic.
Norway’s National Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) has been investigating the footage circulating on social media.
“There is no concrete evidence indicating the video is not real,” it said.
Four men have been detained in Morocco in the slayings of two female tourists from Denmark and Norway who were hiking in the Atlas Mountains. Authorities in Morocco consider the killings a terrorist act. The women’s bodies were discovered Monday with stab wounds in their necks.
Commenting on another video in which the four suspects appear to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State group, the NCIS said that “neither Norway nor Denmark was mentioned in the video, nor was there anything specific about what action they should perform.”
The victims have been identified as 24-year-old Louisa Vesterager Jespersen of Denmark and 28-year-old Maren Ueland of Norway. They lived in southern Norway, where they attended university.
Moroccan authorities said a plane carrying their caskets took off Friday from Casablanca for Denmark.
Norway’s news agency NTB said Ueland’s autopsy would be performed in Norway.
The NCIS said it was trying to map the women’s activities before their departure for the village of Imlil, a frequent starting point for treks to Mount Toubkal, North Africa’s highest peak. The women were found 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the village.
Morocco is generally considered safe for tourists but it has been routing out Islamic extremists for years.