Archives

BOUMERDES, Algeria, Friday (Reuters) Tens of thousands of Algerians spent a second night sleeping in the open as rescue workers tore frantically at rubble for survivors from an earthquake that killed more than 1,000 people and injured 7,000.

Rescuers, many working with bare hands while others used bulldozers and cranes, said hundreds could still be under debris from the quake that struck the capital and towns to the east along a populous Mediterranean coastal strip on Wednesday night.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who toured quake-hit areas and cancelled trips to France and Nigeria later this month, declared three days of national mourning from Friday.

The quake, 6.7 on the Richter scale, sent many terrified people running into the streets. Others were killed when their homes collapsed in the quake, Algeria's worst in more than 20 years and felt as far away as Spain.

The worst devastation was in the city of Reghaia, just east of Algiers, where a 10-storey block of 78 apartments collapsed. About 250 bodies had been pulled out so far, rescuers said.

Television footage from a helicopter flying over quake-hit areas showed some buildings standing fully or largely intact amid others completely flattened.

While rescue efforts went on round the clock, food and water were running low for the the homeless and those staying in the open for fear of more tremors. Some had blankets and tents provided by the authorities, but others had nothing. Electricity, gas and water supplies and phone lines had been severed in some of the worst-hit areas.

Prime Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said: "I can assure you that all the persons who have been made homeless will get decent new housing very soon."

Officials said security forces were on alert to stop looting in a country riven by a decade of violence by Islamist rebels. The strife has cost more than 100,000 lives and burdened an economy potentially wealthy from natural gas and oil exports.

Hospitals in many towns found it almost impossible to cope. In some areas, the injured had to be treated in the open air. State television showed dozens of bodies in lines under sheets and blankets.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager