ALGIERS - Five people have been killed in eastern Algeria after torrential rains sparked flooding in the Aures region, 430 kilometers (260 miles) southeast of the capital, Algiers, newspapers reported on Monday. Two women drowned after being swept away by flood waters in the towns of Oued Aouf and Taxent, while in Oum el-Bouaghi, two men and a teenage boy drowned after several streams burst their banks, the papers said. The heavy rains, which lasted several hours, also damaged crops, houses and roads, the papers reported. The authorities have not released an official statement on the flooding.

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