At least 575 people were killed, 538 of them in Algiers, and 316 injured in violent storms which lashed the north African country at the weekend, officials said on Monday, issuing a new toll.
At least 200 of the victims were killed in the working-class Bab El Oued district of the capital, which was engulfed by a torrent of mud from hillsides above.
Rescuers, aided by local residents, were working furiously today in the hope of finding survivors beneath the onnes of mud and rubble that has covered parts of the suburb, but were not optimistic.

Authorities at the weekend said that at least 4,000 familes had been left homeless by the storms.
Bureau Report