567 Families Invaded by Floods Waiting for Help

More than 567 households in the neighbourhood of Bordj El Kifan, in the western outskirts of Algiers the capital, have been flooded by rain and dirty waters, following the heavy rainfalls poured on Algiers, these days.

Echorouk reporter, Djamila Belkecem, has visited the neighbourhood and pictured the tragic conditions in which the 567 families are living. The neighbourhood turned into a big swamp, as rainfall flooded in the decaying houses, which lack minimum life conditions. It is impossible to walk with shoes amid the 50 cm stagnant and mudded waters. A local resident gave a pair of plastic boots to the reporter as to be able to visit the decaying houses and bring their sufferings out to local authorities, to save them from the mire. Children have not gone to school for a couple of weeks, as they are trapped inside their houses. Even buying staple food has become a hard work to do. “Books and copybooks of our children have all been drenched, the furniture is damaged, water leaks from the tin roofs, the canister walls are fractured, and the mud and dirty waters flooded into inside; nobody can go out without plastic boots,” deplores an elder man. Diseases are surrounding the neighbourhood, regarding the poor health conditions in which the residents are living. Mme Fatma, a mother of four, said: “My four kids are suffering asthma and allergy; their health condition is getting worse day after day.” Residents have made their way to their houses by placing rocks, as to avoid touching the flooding dirty waters; even inside the decaying houses people have resorted to rocks, as to be able to move from a room to another. Rachid, 34, says he has not slept properly for 15 days, adding that residents of this shanty neighbourhood are falling down one after one. “Three days ago, three women were evacuated to hospital after losing consciousness due to exhaustion and fatigue, as they had been spending long nights in getting rid of dirty waters that invaded their houses,” he added. By now, a unit of fire fighters are pursuing pumping out the stagnant dirty waters, pending a better day to come.