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CNN Live Today
Algeria Earthquake
Aired May 23, 2003 - 11:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Up first this hour, though, on CNN, the race against time to find survivors of the Algeria earthquake. The death toll now from that quake now has risen to almost 1,500 and rescuers continue digging through the rubble, looking for signs of life.
CNN's Rym Brahimi joins us now by phone from Algiers -- Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Leon, indeed.
In one of the provinces, it was the most hard hit -- 835 people died out of those 1,500 dead, there have been 1,200 disappeared, and 10,000 have been left homeless. The earthquake was devastating. Entire buildings collapsed, entire houses collapsed, throughout entire neighborhoods, and there is a lot of damage that has been done to water pipes and electricity, and to a lot of the main access tying the roads tying that are, which is about 40 miles east of Algiers, to the Algerian capital. Now the authorities have called on people not to go to the affected areas in order to allow for rescue work to proceed.
A lot of big mobilizations throughout the country, with volunteers going for blood donations in various parts of the country, but as well a lot of international rescue efforts have been pouring in, coming from various parts of the world, Europe, Asia and Russia, as well -- Leon.
HARRIS: Rym, with the toll now standing at over 1,500 dead, is there any idea right now of how many may still be missing?
BRAHIMI: Well, difficult for the authorities to give an exact assessment, and it's also a delicate question, because basically, when you're talking about people missing, you're talking about people who are still trapped, and the likelihood at this stage of finding them is diminishing by the hour, so there is a frantic effort in place right now to try and find as many people and pull as many people or survivors as they can from the rubble, but that's basically where the focus is right now. So they're not really releasing that kind of figure, except for that province, which has 1,222 people disappeared.
Inside the Algerian capital, there is the same similar problem, although not as many people trapped in rubble, but people left homeless, not only because the houses have collapsed, some of the old buildings have collapsed, but also in buildings that are still more or less standing, people are afraid to go back home, because the buildings are very fragile and could threaten to collapse any time now. So again today, people have spent the second night outside and the second day outside just camping in the streets and in the gardens -- Leon.
HARRIS: Rym Brahimi, reporting live for us on the telephone from Algiers there, with the latest word on the aftermath of the earthquake.
Incredible pictures there. Thank you, Rym.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 23, 2003 - 11:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Up first this hour, though, on CNN, the race against time to find survivors of the Algeria earthquake. The death toll now from that quake now has risen to almost 1,500 and rescuers continue digging through the rubble, looking for signs of life.
CNN's Rym Brahimi joins us now by phone from Algiers -- Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Leon, indeed.
In one of the provinces, it was the most hard hit -- 835 people died out of those 1,500 dead, there have been 1,200 disappeared, and 10,000 have been left homeless. The earthquake was devastating. Entire buildings collapsed, entire houses collapsed, throughout entire neighborhoods, and there is a lot of damage that has been done to water pipes and electricity, and to a lot of the main access tying the roads tying that are, which is about 40 miles east of Algiers, to the Algerian capital. Now the authorities have called on people not to go to the affected areas in order to allow for rescue work to proceed.
A lot of big mobilizations throughout the country, with volunteers going for blood donations in various parts of the country, but as well a lot of international rescue efforts have been pouring in, coming from various parts of the world, Europe, Asia and Russia, as well -- Leon.
HARRIS: Rym, with the toll now standing at over 1,500 dead, is there any idea right now of how many may still be missing?
BRAHIMI: Well, difficult for the authorities to give an exact assessment, and it's also a delicate question, because basically, when you're talking about people missing, you're talking about people who are still trapped, and the likelihood at this stage of finding them is diminishing by the hour, so there is a frantic effort in place right now to try and find as many people and pull as many people or survivors as they can from the rubble, but that's basically where the focus is right now. So they're not really releasing that kind of figure, except for that province, which has 1,222 people disappeared.
Inside the Algerian capital, there is the same similar problem, although not as many people trapped in rubble, but people left homeless, not only because the houses have collapsed, some of the old buildings have collapsed, but also in buildings that are still more or less standing, people are afraid to go back home, because the buildings are very fragile and could threaten to collapse any time now. So again today, people have spent the second night outside and the second day outside just camping in the streets and in the gardens -- Leon.
HARRIS: Rym Brahimi, reporting live for us on the telephone from Algiers there, with the latest word on the aftermath of the earthquake.
Incredible pictures there. Thank you, Rym.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
