Moroccans staged protests across the country on Sunday against police abuse after a fisherman was crushed to death in a garbage truck - an incident some are comparing to the death of a Tunisian vendor in 2010 that sparked the Arab Spring uprisings.

According to Moroccan news website Le360.ma and magazine TelQuel, local police confiscated and destroyed Mouhcine Fikri's swordfish, which isn't allowed to be fished during this time of the season.

Footage circulating online appears to show Fikri jumping into a garbage truck to retrieve his fish, before being crushed to death by the truck's compactor.

Fikri's death on Friday in the northern city of Hoceima in the ethnically Berber Rif region has drawn outrage on Moroccan social media, and calls for protests in several cities over what is seen as police violence. King Mohammed VI called for a thorough investigation.