ALGERIA: Heavy rains have caused flooding in the Algerian oasis town of Ghardaia, killing at least 30 people

Record ID: 573667

  • Title: ALGERIA: Heavy rains have caused flooding in the Algerian oasis town of Ghardaia, killing at least 30 people
  • Date: 4th October 2008
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF PEOPLE CLEANING AND DIGGING OUT THEIR CARS PEOPLE LOOKING FOR SOME FAMILIAR OBJECTS IN THEIR DESTROYED HOUSES
  • Embargoed: 19th October 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Algeria
  • Country: Algeria
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVAEGOAQIS9MVP318U05RC3YLLY6
  • Story Text: Floods caused by heavy rains have killed at least 30 people in and around the Algerian oasis town of Ghardaia, authorities said on Thursday (October 2).
    The official APS state news agency quoted a senior local official as saying 50 people had been injured.
    The rains abated on Thursday and the waters subsided, but some streets were still submerged and residents feared more flash floods in the town of 100,000 on the northern edge of the Sahara.
    Ahmed Mechicha explained that the flood waters were sudden and devastating.

    "This disaster happened at 5:30 in the morning. The water came and entered the house and we took refuge on the roof. We asked for compensation for this disaster, for the houses which have been destroyed, but to date the government has not helped us," said Mechicha.
    Groups of youths busily shovelled sludge from the doorways of shops after two days of downpours. Some cars lay overturned by the roadside, apparently up-ended by the force of floodwaters that churned through the town.
    Troops had been deployed to ensure traffic was able to move and to prevent looting, APS said, adding that eight of the 13 districts of the surrounding Ghardaia province had been affected by the floods.
    Earlier Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni said between 300 and 600 homes had been flooded in the town, 700 km south of the capital Algiers.
    Ghardaia is one of several fortified Mozabite Berber medieval settlements in the M'Zab valley, a region listed as a U.N. World Heritage Site and frequented by European tourists.
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