Freak flooding in Algeria kills eight

Flooding caused by torrential rain has killed eight people in western Algeria, the country’s civil defense service said on Sunday.

It said the eight had been swept away by floodwaters at Tlemcen and El Bayadh on Saturday.

The bodies of two women and two men, aged between 22 and 73, were recovered on Sunday at Tlemcen in the northwest, the civil defense said.

They had been in a vehicle swept away when the Oued Ed-Dali river burst its banks.

In El Bayadh in the southwest, three women and a man died when their car was swept away by floodwaters from the Oued Chadli river.

Algeria’s meteorological office had issued a warning bulletin on Friday forecasting rainstorms from Saturday in the north of the country.