The North Africa Journal – 26 January 2019: A cold snap and floods killed two in Tunisia and two others in Algeria. Affected regions include Tunisia’s Kef, Jendouba, Siliana and Kasserine, and Algeria’s Annaba, El Tarf, Tizi Ouzou and Tipaza. Details below:
Tunis, Jan 25, 2019 (AFP) – Two people have died due to adverse weather that has hit Tunisia in the last 24 hours, the interior ministry said, as
several regions contend with snow. Efforts are underway to recover the body of a woman whose car was swept away by flood waters from a river, the ministry said, without specifying the location. A 40-year-old man suffering mental health issues was found dead on Friday morning after spending the night outside in the northeastern Jendouba region, Tunisian radio station Mosaique said. Several areas are without electricity and numerous roads are impassable in Kef, Jendouba, Siliana and Kasserine. More than 100 people who had been stuck in their vehicles were transported to emergency lodgings, while around 100 affected by floods have been evacuated. The country has been on alert since Wednesday due to the adverse weather.
Algiers, Jan 26, 2019 (AFP) – Algeria’s civil protection unit said Saturday five people died after being swept away by flood waters as a cold snap in the Maghreb brought snow to several of the country’s regions. “All the victims have been retrieved over the last 48 hours after being swept away by waters in Annaba, El Tarf, Tizi Ouzou and Tipaza,” the civil protection body said. Salvage operations took place in more than 17 areas and around 100 people have been rescued in the last 24 hours. A total of 33 roads remain blocked in over 10 regions because of snow, the civil protection unit said, adding “snow clearing operations are progressing”. Elsewhere in North Africa, neighbouring Tunisia’s interior ministry said on Friday two people were killed by flooding and cold weather, after heavy snowfall.