ALGIERS/RIYADH,13 December 2007 — Grieving relatives crowded a morgue in the Algerian capital yesterday, and rescuers gave up their search for survivors. With death tolls ranging from 31 stated by the government to 72 given by leading newspaper Al-Watan, seven people were pulled alive from the debris of the offices of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other UN agencies.
While the first fatalities were being buried, other families gathered at the morgue or waited outside the wrecked UN offices until rescuers with sniffer dogs finally gave up hope of finding anyone else alive. The seventh person found, a 40-year-old woman, was dragged out in the early hours of yesterday.
She was taken to a military hospital where surgeons were to amputate her two legs, medical officials said. She told rescuers there was a least one other person still trapped in the tangle of concrete and iron, but it was not clear if any other survivors were found.
Saudi Arabia, Gulf Arab states and Yemen vehemently condemned the bombings. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah condemned the “criminal explosions,” the Saudi Press Agency said.
In a telephone call to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika yesterday King Abdullah emphasized that these abhorrent acts would only increase the determination of the Algerian government and people to root out terrorism from its soil.
“We express our deep sorrow and strong disapproval of the criminal acts that caused destruction and scare ampng the people. We convey our condolences to the president, families of the victims and the Algerian people,” the King said.
Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah also condemned the terror attack. Attiyah also reiterated the solidarity of the GCC countries with Algeria, the SPA reported yesterday.
United Arab Emirates news agency WAM said Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahayan contacted his Algerian counterpart and expressed “the UAE’s condemnation and great anger toward the barbaric terrorist actions.”
