ALGIERS, 6 June 2003 — A US convoy carrying humanitarian aid arrived in the Algerian capital yesterday, part of an outpouring of international assistance following its worst tremor in two decades.
Three US Air Force Hercules C-130 planes brought blankets, generators, cots and a water pump for distribution in the coastal capital and other areas afflicted by the devastating May 21 quake.
Measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, the quake left more than 2,200 dead, 10,000 injured and at least 80,000 homeless. The current US aid effort from the Ramstein air base in southwestern Germany began last Friday with a single planeload of supplies.
A series of other countries have also pledged help — France is providing a reconstruction loan of up to 50 million euros ($59 million), Germany has donated more than half a million euros and 100 tents, and Kuwait has sent medical supplies, tents, blankets, milk and food as well as relief teams.
Yesterday’s transport was the fourth US aid convoy which has thus far contributed thousands of tent and sleeping bags, along with water purification equipment and medical kits, said Marc Grossman, US Under Secretary for Political Affairs at the State Department. Grossman met with Algerian officials after the arrival of the three planes to discuss further humanitarian needs in the country.
