| Tuesday, November 13, 2001, updated at 09:43(GMT+8) |
Rainstorm Kills at Least 337 in Algiers |
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Makeshift morgues were set up in the capital Sunday as rescuers pulled bodies from collapsed buildings after a 36-hour storm pounded Algeria, killing at least 337 people and injuring hundreds of others.
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Makeshift morgues were set up in the capital Sunday as rescuers pulled bodies from collapsed buildings after a 36-hour storm pounded Algeria, killing at least 337 people and injuring hundreds of others.
The government announced it would offer housing and financial assistance to those hardest hit by the devastating rainstorm. French rescue experts arrived in Algiers to assess damage.
Sheets of rain and violent winds lashed the capital, Algiers, on Friday and Saturday, sending water rushing through its streets and mud cascading down the Mediterranean city's hilly terrain.
Several buildings were crushed in the working-class neighborhood of Bab El Oued, where an unknown number of people remained missing, Health Minister Abdelhamid Aberkane said. Some old buildings were badly damaged, and there were fears some would collapse.
At least 316 people died in Algiers alone, Capt. Akim Aid Mohand of the civilian security services told France 2 television �� a number that would push the overall death toll to at least 337. Earlier Sunday, Algerian health and civil protection authorities had said there were 289 casualties in Algiers and 21 elsewhere.
Officials said they expected the death toll to rise.
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