Flash Floods In Mozabite Settlement In Southern Algerian Desert Kill 29, Injure 80, 600 Homes Destroyed

Algiers, Algeria (AHN) - At least 29 people were drowned and more than 80 others injured in flash floods caused by heavy rains in the Algerian desert that destroyed about 600 homes in the historic Ghardaia area, state radio reported Thursday.

Interior Ministry officials say they haven't ruled out more victims, according to state media.

Some 600 people had to be rescued from floodwaters by helicopter in Ghardaia, a Mozabite settlement that is 370 miles south of Algiers.

Ghardaia is an oasis town of about 100,000 people on the edge of the Sahara desert and torrential rains caused a river that is dry for much of the year to rise to a depth of 26 feet in a matter of hours on Wednesday.

Gas and electricity have been cut in the town where food supplies have been flooded and probably spoiled.

Ghardaia is popular with tourists from Europe, it is a U.N. World Heritage Site and one of several fortified Mozabite Berber medieval settlements in the M'Zab valley.

The Mozabite people speak Tumzabt, read and write Arabic and are Ibadi Muslims, a dissident form of Islam who do not categorize other Muslims as unbelievers, but as lesser Muslims. They number about 1.5 million and are a surviving remnant of the Khariji, the earliest Muslim sect.

Ibadi Muslims differ from Sunni and Shia Muslims in numerous ways. They are a moderate sect that is internally strict on its own members but tolerant of outsiders. They believe that violence is only allowable to remove an unjust despot from power.