It has left at least 8,600 others injured.

According to Xinhua, a Chinese rescue team arrived in Algeria on Saturday morning and was soon assigned to one of the most seriously hit areas of Dallys, a small city in the tremor-ravaged country.

They have been sifting through building debris in their search for survivors.

Before their arrival, eight Chinese construction workers were confirmed dead and nine others injured when their six-story dormitory collapsed during the earthquake.

The body of Chen Weidong, 52, an interpreter, was discovered on Saturday afternoon.

The victims were all employees of the China Construction Eighth Engineering Division.

The remaining estimated 8,000 Chinese in Algeria are safe. Rescue team leader Qiu Mingsheng has also sent medical experts to check on the injured workers. They have been treated well by China's medical team in Algeria, Qiu said.

The Chinese ambassador to Algeria, Wang Wangsheng, visited the injured workers at the weekend.

He said the embassy will do everything it can to assist them.

Thousands of residents of the Mediterranean provinces of Algiers and Boumerdes have spent a fourth night in the open, having lost their homes or being too scared to return to those still standing.

(China Daily May 26, 2003)