Algiers | Friday
THE death toll from storms that lashed northern Algeria at the weekend swelled to 701 on Thursday, as rescue workers pulled another 50 bodies from mountains of mud and debris in the capital.
Officials said 651 people died in Algiers, where the working-class neighbourhood of Bab El Oued bore the brunt of gales and a torrential downpour on Saturday. Scores of victims were washed out to sea.
Rescue workers feared the number of dead could climb to 1 000, and said their work was hampered because many roads were still blocked by storm debris.
Photographs of loved ones lost in the storm were plastered on walls in Bab El Oued in the desperate hope of finding survivors.
But Interior Minister Yazid Zerhouni said on Thursday there was no hope left of finding anyone alive.
The newspaper El Watan, citing police, said the number of people missing from the unprecedented floods “was higher than 500.”
The minister said Algeria had the means to deal with the crisis, and was being assisted by Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, Libya, Turkey and France.
He also urged 1 500 families listed as homeless to “show patience….and a bit of organisation and understanding.”
Efforts to rehouse people and distribute aid have reportedly been hindered by “false” applications from people whose homes were left intact.
Bab El Oued residents have blamed city authorities for making the impact of the storms worse, by having cemented up drains in the 1990s to deprive armed Islamic extremists of an escape route after attacks.
The drains were never unblocked.
Angry youths heckled Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika when he visited Bab El Oued on Monday, shouting anti-government slogans, such as “Assassins in power.” Residents have also accused the government of failing to give adequate help to rescue workers.
Volunteers complained they were given no picks or shovels and were forced to dig in the thick mud with stainless steel plates, saucepans or their bare hands. – AFP