Algeria has announced it will spend €500-million on protecting towns from flooding as the death toll from floods this month rose to 43 on Sunday.
The Minister of Water Resources, Abdelmalek Sellal, made the announcement as public radio reported the death toll from the recent flooding rose from the previous toll of 34. Eighty-six people were injured, the report said.
Sellal said the new package will include €65-million for building dams in regions struck south and west of the capital.
The Ghardaia region, 600km south of Algiers, was hit by flooding on October 1, and incessant rain flooded the Djemai valley in the Ain Torki region, 120km west of Algiers, on Thursday.
The government had already unblocked €200-million for reconstruction of the devastated region.
In initial estimates on Tuesday, Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said there had been €250-million-worth of damage, largely to infrastructure, from the flooding. — Sapa-AFP