At least 643 people are known to have been killed in the violent earthquake that hit northern Algeria, a report on state-run radio said on Thursday, increasing the previous toll by nearly 100.
Around an hour earlier, the radio had quoted rescue services as saying 552 people were known to have been killed and 4 637 injured in the quake, estimated at up to 6.0 on the open-ended Richter scale.
According to the new toll, the number of injured had also climbed, to 4 696.
The radio report echoed an earlier warning by the interior ministry that the toll from the quake, which hit the Mediterranean coastal capital Algiers and nearby towns Wednesday night, was likely to rise steeply in the coming hours, as scores of buildings had collapsed.
Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia also warned that the toll is likely to climb further because ”there are still lots of people trapped under the rubble.” – Sapa-AFP