Buildings in Algeria knocked

Diggers and bulldozers began demolishing buildings today that were damaged beyond repair by last week’s devastating earthquake in Algeria.

Meanwhile, the Algerian government pledged to investigate why so many new apartment blocks had collapsed so easily.

“All guilty,” screamed a front page banner headline in the Liberte newspaper, accusing the state, housing developers and construction companies of violating building codes to cut costs.

A powerful earthquake ripped through towns east of Algiers on Wednesday night. Today, the death toll stood at 2,217, with another 8,980 injured.

One newspaper said today that as many as 2,000 people were still missing.

Anger has been steadily rising in recent days as villagers and townspeople accuse the government of a feeble response to the disaster and claim shoddy construction contributed to the collapse of many newer buildings.

Demolition teams began tearing down unsafe buildings today. Thousands of homeless people spent a fifth night sleeping on the streets of Algerian towns last night.

“It could be another week, a year, we don’t know. Nobody has told us anything,” said Kafia Chamel after sleeping on a blanket outside his damaged apartment block, which he said was built in 1997.

His wife and children were being put up at a nearby school.

In a move to ease widespread anger and accusations, Housing Minister Mohamed Nadir Hamimidi said the government would look into whether poor construction was to blame for some of the destruction.

“The president has decided to open an investigation to determine responsibilities,” he said, adding that if there was any wrongdoing, those responsible would be tracked down.

Many have called for the resignation of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was harangued by angry crowds shouting “the authorities – killers” when he toured the town of Boumerdes on Saturday, forcing him to cut short his visit.