Algeria’s Quake Death Toll Surpasses 2,000

Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said on state radio he feared no further survivors would be found from the deadly tremor, which hit the area around the capital last Wednesday.

"Rescue operations are continuing, but there comes a moment after which the operations will begin to become hopeless," he said.

The Premier made the comments hours after three further survivors were pulled from the rubble, nearly three days after the earthquake.

A mother and child were rescued from the ruins of their home in Bourmerdes, 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Algiers, while a 21-year-old man was unearthed from a destroyed hotel in Zemmouri, 20 kilometers further to the east more than 52 hours after the quake brought it down.

The Boumerdes region has been hardest hit, with 1,267 people killed and nearly 2,800 injured, while 770 lives were claimed and over 4,700 people were injured in the Algiers region.

Authorities are now increasingly worried over a looming epidemic, as hundreds of bodies were still lying shrouded in sheets outside scores of buildings throughout the area.

Rising temperatures in the past two days have also contributed to the fear of the spread of disease.