OVER 300 DROWNED

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16509, 29 November 1927, Page 7

OVER 300 DROWNED

FLOODS IN ALGERIA HUGE DAM COLLAPSES <W.ec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (N.Z., find A.P.A.. and Sun.) PARIS, Nov. 27. Floods in Algeria.broke the Fergond dam, 600 ft long and 100 ft high and burst an underground river. Many houses in various towns collapsed. Aeroplanes are rendering aid to the people rendered homeless in out-of-the-waV places. Trains are held up in several directions. The.jdiowncd arc believed to number more than 300. The promptness of the engineer at the darn in sending out telephone messages for 40 minutes, warning people in the picturesque town of Perregaux, the railway junction on the Habra river, 40 miles east of Oran, that the dam was about to collapse, averted an appalling disaster. The majority of the 10,0C0 inhabitants were enabled to rush to the hills, where they arc at present isolated and destitute. The flood engulfed trains, twisting engines and bridges into fantastic shapes. Two Europeans were seen clinging to a tree top, but help was impossible, and they were overwhelmed. Rescuers fire endeavoring to reach a marooned train in which are many starving children, with food and water.

Wireless messages state that the situation is terrible. Waters poured in through a railway tunnel, destroying factories and warehouses.; All the drains burst. ' '