Algerian officials say 13 people have drowned in a Sahara desert town in flash floods caused by torrential rains. National radio quotes Interior Minister Yazid Zerhouni as saying 13 other people were hurt and up to 600 houses destroyed in the town of Ghardaia after rains on Tuesday and Wednesday. The official APS news agency says that hundreds of people have been rescued by helicopter but that many others are still missing. In neighboring Morocco, the MAP news agency says two people drowned in floods near the city of Marrakech.
