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Algeria's president faces fury over quakeCrowds claim government allowed poorly built housing
ALGIERS, Algeria (CNN) -- Angry crowds pelted Algeria's president with debris and insults Saturday when he tried to tour villages devastated by last week's earthquake that has killed more than 1,800 people. Abdelaziz Bouteflika's visit came hours after Japanese rescue workers said they had pulled a survivor -- a 21-year-old waiter -- from the rubble of a hotel on the Mediterranean coast. That followed the rescue earlier Friday of a 2-year-old girl. Anger has been rising since a 6.8-magnitude earthquake wrecked villages east of Algiers on Wednesday night. Officials said Saturday that more than 1,800 were killed and 7,691 were injured, The Associated Press reported. Bouteflika was not hurt in the violence, AP said, but the abuse directed at him and other officials was a bold display of criticism against a military-backed government known for a hard stance against dissent. The president tried to tour the town of Boumerdes on Saturday, but angry crowds shouted "pouvoir assassin!" -- a common slogan translated as "the authorities -- killers." Police fought to hold back the crowd as Bouteflika drove away, while many threw chunks of rubble at his car and some kicked the cars in his motorcade. On Friday, he visited hospitals in Ain Taya and El Harrach, outside Algiers, without incident. Meanwhile, Japanese aid workers announced a rare piece of good news: After nearly 4 hours of digging through the wrecked Adim Beach Resort at Zemmouri, they rescued a man who had escaped injury. "It was almost a miracle. He was unscathed," Toshimitsu Ishigure, director of Japanese Overseas Disaster Assistance, told AP. "He was able to breathe because he had a half-foot of space from a slab lying on top." Hope of finding further survivors, however, was fading three days after the quake. Ishigure said further rescues would become more unlikely more than 72 hours after a quake, and British officials said Saturday they would soon pull out rescue workers and replace them with relief and recovery experts. The threat of disease was rising, they said. "Other risks such as infection must be tackled," Willie McMartin of Britain's International Rescue Corps told the UK's Press Association. "With temperatures reaching almost 40 [104 degrees Fahrenheit], there is an immediate need for disinfectant to be sprayed." Anger was also mounting over the poor construction of many modern buildings that collapsed. Some people accused the government of turning a blind eye to companies that ignored regulations. "That house over there used to be filled with lovely people, but it was built by villains," said Lies Boumeridja, an egg and poultry vendor from the town of Bourmerdes, where official news agency APS said 955 people died. "Our building is still standing because it was built by an honest man."
On Friday, a Spanish volunteer rescue worker from Firemen Without Borders pulled Emilie Kaidi, 2, from the rubble of her home in Corso, east of Algiers. Emilie survived in her collapsed ground floor bedroom, protected from the rubble by a door that fell on a television set, giving her shelter for almost two days, The Associated Press reported. Her father was lightly injured in the quake, her mother escaped injury, but the fate of her 4-year-old sister Lisa was unclear. Emlie's constant cries for her mother led rescue workers to her. Meanwhile French rescuers pulled 2-and-a-half-year-old Yousra Hamenniche out of a hole cut in the roof of her apartment block, which had contracted like a giant concertina when the tremor came, Reuters said. Her release after more than 36 hours was bittersweet for her father: Six members of his family were still missing. Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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