3 dead as quake stirs panic in Algiers

Three people were killed and hundreds injured as panic gripped areas of the Algerian capital when an earthquake of 5.6 magnitudes struck offshore early Friday, an emergency official said. The crisis team member said two people had died after jumping off their balconies -- a woman in Algiers and a man in Rouiba, east of the capital. 388 people were injured, almost of whom were sent home after receiving first aid. Five were kept in hospital with fractures. Civil defence official Colonel Farouk Ashur said earlier that many residents in Algiers and Boumerdes, to the east, rushed out into the streets, fearing their buildings might collapse. But there was no significant damage caused by the quake, which hit at 5:11 am (0411 GMT), Ashur said, according to AFP.