Earthquake wreaks devastation on Algeria

IT WAS a scene from hell - after a massive quake tore through the earth, the desperate cries of women mingled with the harsh wail of ambulance sirens.

Blocks of buildings lay in ruins. Countless bodies were trapped under the wreckage of Algeria's earthquake where the death toll last night stood at 1,092. More than 6,000 people had been injured.

"The women screamed, the children cried, people yelled, God is Great!" said Hakim Derradji in Rouiba, near the epicentre. "It was horrible, it was like we had been bombed."