ALGERIAN FLOODS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 30 November 1927, Page 7

ALGERIAN FLOODS

HOUSES AND FAMILIES SWEPT AWAY HUNDREDS PERISH TORRENT TRAVELS AT 100 MILES AN [TOUR (By Electric Telegraph-Copyright) (Australian & N.Z. Cable Association) ALGIERS, 28th November. Graphic details are to hand of the flood, in which 60 Europeans and hundreds of Algerians perished. Two-storey houses in the path of the torrent disappeared, and whole families along with the houses. Within half an hour the law courts and 60 large buildings had been obliterated, and the place where they stood is now a ravine 60 feet deep. Lightly constructed Algerian quarters were swept away like chaff, and the sleepers drowned in hundreds. It is estimated that the torrent travelled at 100 miles hourly. A SOLDIER'S BRAVERY ALGIERS, 28th November. A sergeant of the Chasseurs D'Afrique, learning that many babies were isolated on a floodbound train, swam his horse a mile carrying milk. The soldier sw,am out. and brought back a baby whose cradle was balanced on the edge of a ravine near the house where the family perished. MANY VILLAGES SWEPT AWAY (Received 30th November, 11.15 a.m.) ALGIERS, 29th November. Flood damage in the Oran department alone is estimated at £4,000,000. Many villages were swept away. A vast tract lias been converted into a siltcovered plain. The dead are certain to total several hundreds. Rain continues, hampering relief. Provision convoys have started, but meanwhile aeroplanes are dropping food in isolated districts.