World Cup celebration leave 12 dead

 

Raucous merriment after Algeria qualified for the 2014 World Cup finals were connected to the

killings of 12 persons and some 240 injured, authorities described yesterday, as soccer-mad followers

poured into the roads and revellers raced their vehicles and honked.

Women jubilate in joy and people waved Algerian flags in victory after the North African country defeated Burkina Faso on Tuesday night.

In a country where political rallies are ill-attended without some kind of economic incentive, with celebrations for ordinary club championships going on well into the night in some neighbourhoods.

Five fans were killed when their van slid off the street into a ravine in the hill village of Bejaia,

east of Algiers, while four others past away in the south city of Biskra when two motor motor trucks

collided, according to a statement from emergency services.

Also in Bouira, southeast of the capital, a vehicle carrying a family skidded off the street, murdering a

10-year-old. Eight other travellers, encompassing four young kids between the ages of three and eight,

were also hurt, said the state news agency.

The remaining two deaths appeared in the villages of Tipaza and M'Sila. Much of the north of the

homeland was blanketed with hefty rainfall Tuesday, exacerbating the dangers of driving.