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CNN Live Today
Looting, Disease Latest Threat to Algerian Earthquake Survivors
Aired May 26, 2003 - 10:09 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It's been five days since a devastating earthquake tore across northern Algeria. More than 2,000 people were killed there and nearly 9,000 injured, and more bodies are buried in the rubble this morning.
CNN's Rym Brahimi joins us by videophone with more.
Good morning -- Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.
Well, I understand there has been a revision of the death toll now, and it's now more than 2,200 people that have died in this earthquake, and there are almost 9,000 people injured. And thousands -- tens of thousands of people, in fact, have been left homeless.
Now, I'm actually in a little town known as Budwell (ph), and in this town yesterday frantic efforts were being made to find a little 11-year-old girl by the name of Sabrina. Rescuers and volunteers searched through the night, and then eventually -- people had said that they had actually heard the little girl a couple of days ago, and that she was knocking on one of the walls and made herself heard. But they did find her at 1:00 in the morning, and they were able to pull her out -- her body out at 5:00, and she was dead.
It's a very quiet atmosphere now. We're in day five since the earthquake struck northern Algeria, and people are greeting each other in some areas with not, hello, how are you, but hello, did you survive and did your family survive?
Now, rescue efforts are still under way, although it seems to be more a case of recovery operations rather than anything else, because now there is, of course, less and less hope of finding anyone alive. It's been too long since the earthquake hit -- Carol.
COSTELLO: It's just such an interesting contrast between what's happening there and what happened in Japan. And some of it is because the infrastructure in Japan is built to withstand earthquake damage, but it doesn't look as if that's the case where you are.
BRAHIMI: Indeed, Carol, a lot of people are questioning now the quality of the construction of the buildings that collapsed. And rescue workers, though, from Algeria and those that came from other countries say that it really depends. In some cases, it might be because the construction wasn't sturdy enough and wasn't built to the norms that would have protected people from those earthquakes, but sometimes there is nothing to do. They said if there's a crack that comes through the building or underneath the building in the ground, in the earth, there is not much any construction can do really. So, it's a little bit of both, but people are asking questions.
And there is a lot of tension in some areas. Rescue efforts haven't reached every single area that's been hit. And a lot of people are also saying that the rescue efforts were delayed and were not very organized from the beginning -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi reporting live from Algeria, many thanks to you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Survivors>
Aired May 26, 2003 - 10:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It's been five days since a devastating earthquake tore across northern Algeria. More than 2,000 people were killed there and nearly 9,000 injured, and more bodies are buried in the rubble this morning.
CNN's Rym Brahimi joins us by videophone with more.
Good morning -- Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.
Well, I understand there has been a revision of the death toll now, and it's now more than 2,200 people that have died in this earthquake, and there are almost 9,000 people injured. And thousands -- tens of thousands of people, in fact, have been left homeless.
Now, I'm actually in a little town known as Budwell (ph), and in this town yesterday frantic efforts were being made to find a little 11-year-old girl by the name of Sabrina. Rescuers and volunteers searched through the night, and then eventually -- people had said that they had actually heard the little girl a couple of days ago, and that she was knocking on one of the walls and made herself heard. But they did find her at 1:00 in the morning, and they were able to pull her out -- her body out at 5:00, and she was dead.
It's a very quiet atmosphere now. We're in day five since the earthquake struck northern Algeria, and people are greeting each other in some areas with not, hello, how are you, but hello, did you survive and did your family survive?
Now, rescue efforts are still under way, although it seems to be more a case of recovery operations rather than anything else, because now there is, of course, less and less hope of finding anyone alive. It's been too long since the earthquake hit -- Carol.
COSTELLO: It's just such an interesting contrast between what's happening there and what happened in Japan. And some of it is because the infrastructure in Japan is built to withstand earthquake damage, but it doesn't look as if that's the case where you are.
BRAHIMI: Indeed, Carol, a lot of people are questioning now the quality of the construction of the buildings that collapsed. And rescue workers, though, from Algeria and those that came from other countries say that it really depends. In some cases, it might be because the construction wasn't sturdy enough and wasn't built to the norms that would have protected people from those earthquakes, but sometimes there is nothing to do. They said if there's a crack that comes through the building or underneath the building in the ground, in the earth, there is not much any construction can do really. So, it's a little bit of both, but people are asking questions.
And there is a lot of tension in some areas. Rescue efforts haven't reached every single area that's been hit. And a lot of people are also saying that the rescue efforts were delayed and were not very organized from the beginning -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi reporting live from Algeria, many thanks to you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Survivors>
