At least 337 people were killed and hundreds were injured when a 36-hour storm pounded the northern part of Algeria.
Rain and violent winds lashed Algiers, causing rapidly rising water to rush through its streets and mud to cascade down the Mediterranean city's hilly terrain.
Several buildings in the neighbourhood of Bab El Oued were crushed, and an unknown number of people there were missing, said Health Minister Mr Abdelhamid Aberkane.
"The initial toll is more than 300 deaths and more than 300 injured," Mr Mohammed Goualmi, Algeria's ambassador to France, said in Paris. "Unfortunately, this toll might rise because many people whose homes collapsed have not been pulled out".
Prime Minister Mr Ali Benflis said the Government's Civil Protection Corps, and national and local police forces, would take aid to affected families and prevent looting in all regions affected by the storm.
A civilian security services spokesman said about 8.3 inches of rain had fallen over the 36-hour period of the storm.
The storm follows two months of extreme dryness in the region. Water had been rationed since the middle of last month.
AP