DAM COLLAPSES

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 29 November 1927, Page 5

DAM COLLAPSES

FLOODS IN ALGERIA.

OVER 300 DROWNED. MUCH HAVOC WROUGHT. BY CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT. PARIS, Nov. 27. The floods in Algeria broke a dam, and burst an underground river. Many houses in various towns collapsed. / Aeroplanes arc rendering aid to people left homeless in out-of-the-way places. Trains are held up in several directions. The drowned arc believed to number more than 300. The promptness of an engineer at the Fergoud dam in sending out telephone messages for 40 minutes, warning people in the picturesque town of Petre<raux (a railway junction on the Habra River, 40 miles east of Oran) that the dam was about to collapse, averted an appalling disaster, as the majority of the 10,000 inhabitants were enabled to rush to the hills, where they are at present isolated and destitute. The flood engulfed trains, twisting engines and bridges into fantastic shapes. Two Europeans were scon clinging to a tree-top, but help Was impossible, and they were overwhelmed. Rescuers are endeavouring to take food and water to a marooned train, in which are many starving children. LONDON, Nov.- 28. The “Daily Mail’s” Algiers correspondent reports that the Fergoud dam, which is 600 yards long and 100 feet high, collapsed. A Mostagatem wireless message states that the situation is terrible. The waters poured in through a railway tunnel, destroying factories and warehouses. All the drains burst. Hundreds of casnalties are mentioned.