The death toll from the killer earthquake that struck Algeria on Sunday crossed the 2 000 mark, with more than 8 600 people injured, the interior ministry said.
Two thousand forty-seven people are now known to have died in Wednesday’s tremor, the ministry said announcing a new provisional toll, while 8 626 were injured in the quake, which struck the capital Algiers and its environs.
Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said on state radio he feared no further survivors would be found from the deadly tremor, which hit the area around the capital last Wednesday.
”Rescue operations are continuing, but there comes a moment after which the operations will begin to become hopeless,” he said.
The premier made the comments hours after three further survivors were pulled from the rubble, nearly three days after the earthquake.
A mother and child were rescued from the ruins of their home in Bourmerdes, 50 kilometres east of Algiers, while a 21-year-old man was unearthed from a destroyed hotel in Zemmouri, 20 kilometres further to the east more than 52 hours after the quake brought it down.
The Boumerdes region has been hardest hit, with 1 267 people killed here and nearly 2 800 injured, while 770 lives were claimed and over 4 700 people were injured in the Algiers region.
Authorities are now increasingly worried over a looming epidemic, as hundreds of bodies were still lying shrouded in sheets outside scores of buildings throughout the area.
Rising temperatures in the past two days have also contributed to the fear of the spread of disease. – Sapa-AFP