Rym Brahimi: Algerians in great need after quake
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CNN's Rym Brahimi
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Algerian earthquake victims face primitive conditions and rescuers are short on supplies. CNN's Mike Yardley reports.
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ALGIERS, Algeria (CNN) -- Dozens of international search and rescue specialists joined the effort Friday to find survivors -- or bodies of the dead -- beneath unfathomable mountains of rubble and dust in northern Algeria, where a powerful magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck this week.
Some senior Algerian government officials have put the death toll at more than 1,400 and the injured at more than 7,000.
CNN Correspondent Rym Brahimi discussed the situation Friday with CNN's Heidi Collins.
COLLINS: What is the latest there?
BRAHIMI: The latest figure provided by the Algerian government is 1,467 dead, and that number is still rising. In one province alone -- the one that's closest to the epicenter -- there are 835 dead, more than 1,200 [who have] disappeared, and 10,000 people in that area [who] have been left without homes.
Now the extent of the damage is huge. Entire neighborhoods, buildings have been totally flattened. Houses have been severely damaged, and a lot of people are still caught under rubble. As you mentioned, a it's race against time. There has been a lot of damage done as well to water pipes, so there is no clean water in certain areas and no electricity.
There has been a national mobilization. A lot of people throughout the country have been coming forward to give blood and to help, and international rescue efforts have been pouring in from various parts of the world.
France, of course, as well as Britain, Italy, many parts of Europe, Russia, Turkey and neighboring Morocco and Libya, [are] all bringing in humanitarian aid and bringing in rescue workers with sniffer dogs to help find those people that are still caught under the rubble.
COLLINS: Rym, I'm looking at some figures here about disaster relief -- $50,000 from the United Nations, $154,000 from the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent Society. This does not sound like much at this time. What are you hearing about more aid that might be coming in?
BRAHIMI: Indeed, Heidi. It doesn't sound like very much. South Korea has promised to send $100,000, and the Chinese Red Cross is sending $50,000. Maybe accumulated, it will add up to something, but definitely there's a huge need right now.
The need for rescue and urgent rescue efforts is huge, not to mention the homeless. In one province alone, as I mentioned, 10,000 people are stranded without homes. They're living outside. There are not enough tents, although a lot of blankets have been brought in and some equipment, but there's going to be a lot of need just for -- just to help people while things are restored and while the buildings, or some buildings, are being rebuilt for them to be able to have normal homes, but that's expected to take some time.
