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Well-Known Member
By KIM HOUSEGO
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOUMERDES, Algeria (AP) -
Bodies wrapped in blankets and plastic
bags piled up in morgues Friday as the
death toll from Algeria's earthquake
reached nearly 1,500, with more than
7,000 injured.
Weary volunteers, their faces caked with
cement dust and sweat, climbed huge
mounds of smashed concrete looking for
more victims, though rescuers saw little
chance of finding survivors two days after
the quake.
Aid poured into the North African country
from around the world: a field hospital
from Germany, sniffer dogs from Sweden
and Switzerland, emergency rescue
experts from Russia. Turkey, which suffers
frequent quakes, sent a search team,
tents and medicine.
Police erected roadblocks and stepped up
patrols to prevent looting after thousands
of people fled their homes, fearful of
further quakes. Light aftershocks jolted the
region on Friday. Many people slept in the
streets and in public parks.
The International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies appealed for
$1.5 million to provide food, blankets and
medicine for survivors.
Exhausted by hours of digging for
survivors, Saa Sayah, a captain in
Algeria's civil protection unit, said rescuers
in the Boumerdes area - east of Algiers
where the epicenter was located - had
stopped listening for voices but instead
were being guided by the scent of
decaying bodies.
"There is not much hope here," he said,
standing in front of a four-story building
that had collapsed. "We have already
pulled up four bodies, but we can't get
further inside."
At another building, two women wearing
black headscarves wailed and thumped
their hands on their chests as a Swiss
rescue team pulled the body of a
12-year-old girl from the wreckage.
Grieving relatives held her dust-coated
body tightly before she was covered in a
blanket and put in the back of a yellow
van.
In Corso, another devastated village, grief
was quickly turning to anger about the
official response.
"We have only our hands and hammers,"
said Ismail Lizir, 42. "It's been nearly three
days, and there has been no sign of local
authorities. What we need is heavy
machinery."
Entire families were among the dead after
the 6.8-magnitude quake flattened
apartment houses and trapped countless
bodies under the wreckage. Buildings
leaned at odd angles. Domes toppled off
mosques. The injured crowded hospitals.
The Interior Ministry said at least 1,467
people were killed and more than 7,000
injured. Thousands more were homeless.
The quake hit at about 7:45 p.m.
Wednesday. It was Algeria's deadliest
earthquake since a pair of temblors west
of the capital killed about 5,000 people in
October 1980, according to the U.S.
Geological Survey in Golden, Colo.
Thousands of survivors slept in makeshift
tents in the downtrodden Bab El Oued
neighborhood, one of the worst hit areas in
the capital. Many complained their
buildings were shoddily built.
"It was a close call," Sadek Bouraoui, a
customs officer, said of his home. "Living
here risks the lives of my wife and
children, but we have nowhere else to go."
In Algiers, electricity was cut in some
neighborhoods and some phone lines were
downed. The loss of power and scores of
aftershocks that rocked the area in the
hours after the quake caused panic. But
the capital was mostly spared the
devastation farther east.
A four-story hotel frequented by athletes
was severely damaged, killing the
Romanian head of Algeria's track and field
team and the Bulgarian-born coach of the
national weightlifting squad.
Shocks were felt into the Mediterranean.
The quake triggered 7-foot waves in
Spain's Balearic Islands, 175 miles north
of Algiers, that damaged or destroyed 150
boats, officials said.
The temblor also ruptured underwater
cables, cutting phone links to Algeria and
seriously disrupting international
communications with countries in Asia, the
Middle East and the Pacific, France
Telecom said.
For Algeria, the quake could also cause
political damage.
The government has been battling Islamic
insurgents for more than a decade and,
with elections due next year, support for
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika could slide
if efforts to help quake survivors falter.
Muslim fundamentalists have traditionally
excelled in helping the needy. To oversee
rescue efforts, Bouteflika canceled plans
to join a summit of world leaders in France
next week, APS reported.
Many Algerians have complained of a
housing shortage, and that the buildings
available are shoddily constructed. In an
Algiers suburb, residents have said it is not
uncommon for three families - roughly 14
people - to cram into a three-bedroom
apartment. Others sleep in hallways each
night.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-af/2003/may/23/052303511.html
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOUMERDES, Algeria (AP) -
Bodies wrapped in blankets and plastic
bags piled up in morgues Friday as the
death toll from Algeria's earthquake
reached nearly 1,500, with more than
7,000 injured.
Weary volunteers, their faces caked with
cement dust and sweat, climbed huge
mounds of smashed concrete looking for
more victims, though rescuers saw little
chance of finding survivors two days after
the quake.
Aid poured into the North African country
from around the world: a field hospital
from Germany, sniffer dogs from Sweden
and Switzerland, emergency rescue
experts from Russia. Turkey, which suffers
frequent quakes, sent a search team,
tents and medicine.
Police erected roadblocks and stepped up
patrols to prevent looting after thousands
of people fled their homes, fearful of
further quakes. Light aftershocks jolted the
region on Friday. Many people slept in the
streets and in public parks.
The International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies appealed for
$1.5 million to provide food, blankets and
medicine for survivors.
Exhausted by hours of digging for
survivors, Saa Sayah, a captain in
Algeria's civil protection unit, said rescuers
in the Boumerdes area - east of Algiers
where the epicenter was located - had
stopped listening for voices but instead
were being guided by the scent of
decaying bodies.
"There is not much hope here," he said,
standing in front of a four-story building
that had collapsed. "We have already
pulled up four bodies, but we can't get
further inside."
At another building, two women wearing
black headscarves wailed and thumped
their hands on their chests as a Swiss
rescue team pulled the body of a
12-year-old girl from the wreckage.
Grieving relatives held her dust-coated
body tightly before she was covered in a
blanket and put in the back of a yellow
van.
In Corso, another devastated village, grief
was quickly turning to anger about the
official response.
"We have only our hands and hammers,"
said Ismail Lizir, 42. "It's been nearly three
days, and there has been no sign of local
authorities. What we need is heavy
machinery."
Entire families were among the dead after
the 6.8-magnitude quake flattened
apartment houses and trapped countless
bodies under the wreckage. Buildings
leaned at odd angles. Domes toppled off
mosques. The injured crowded hospitals.
The Interior Ministry said at least 1,467
people were killed and more than 7,000
injured. Thousands more were homeless.
The quake hit at about 7:45 p.m.
Wednesday. It was Algeria's deadliest
earthquake since a pair of temblors west
of the capital killed about 5,000 people in
October 1980, according to the U.S.
Geological Survey in Golden, Colo.
Thousands of survivors slept in makeshift
tents in the downtrodden Bab El Oued
neighborhood, one of the worst hit areas in
the capital. Many complained their
buildings were shoddily built.
"It was a close call," Sadek Bouraoui, a
customs officer, said of his home. "Living
here risks the lives of my wife and
children, but we have nowhere else to go."
In Algiers, electricity was cut in some
neighborhoods and some phone lines were
downed. The loss of power and scores of
aftershocks that rocked the area in the
hours after the quake caused panic. But
the capital was mostly spared the
devastation farther east.
A four-story hotel frequented by athletes
was severely damaged, killing the
Romanian head of Algeria's track and field
team and the Bulgarian-born coach of the
national weightlifting squad.
Shocks were felt into the Mediterranean.
The quake triggered 7-foot waves in
Spain's Balearic Islands, 175 miles north
of Algiers, that damaged or destroyed 150
boats, officials said.
The temblor also ruptured underwater
cables, cutting phone links to Algeria and
seriously disrupting international
communications with countries in Asia, the
Middle East and the Pacific, France
Telecom said.
For Algeria, the quake could also cause
political damage.
The government has been battling Islamic
insurgents for more than a decade and,
with elections due next year, support for
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika could slide
if efforts to help quake survivors falter.
Muslim fundamentalists have traditionally
excelled in helping the needy. To oversee
rescue efforts, Bouteflika canceled plans
to join a summit of world leaders in France
next week, APS reported.
Many Algerians have complained of a
housing shortage, and that the buildings
available are shoddily constructed. In an
Algiers suburb, residents have said it is not
uncommon for three families - roughly 14
people - to cram into a three-bedroom
apartment. Others sleep in hallways each
night.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-af/2003/may/23/052303511.html