Algeria's civil protection unit said Saturday five people died after being swept away by flood waters as a cold snap in the Maghreb brought snow to several of the country's regions.

"All the victims have been retrieved over the last 48 hours after being swept away by waters in Annaba, El Tarf, Tizi Ouzou and Tipaza," the civil protection body said.

Salvage operations took place in more than 17 areas and around 100 people have been rescued in the last 24 hours.

A total of 33 roads remain blocked in over 10 regions because of snow, the civil protection unit said, adding "snow clearing operations are progressing".

Elsewhere in North Africa, neighbouring Tunisia's interior ministry said on Friday two people were killed by flooding and cold weather, after heavy snowfall.

Cold snap kills two in Tunisia
Tunis (AFP) Jan 25, 2019 - Two people have died due to adverse weather that has hit Tunisia in the last 24 hours, the interior ministry said, as several regions contend with snow.

Efforts are underway to recover the body of a woman whose car was swept away by flood waters from a river, the ministry said, without specifying the location.

A 40-year-old man suffering mental health issues was found dead on Friday morning after spending the night outside in the northeastern Jendouba region, Tunisian radio station Mosaique said.

Several areas are without electricity and numerous roads are impassable in Kef, Jendouba, Siliana and Kasserine.

More than 100 people who had been stuck in their vehicles were transported to emergency lodgings, while around 100 affected by floods have been evacuated.

The country has been on alert since Wednesday due to the adverse weather.

Skier dies after being caught in avalanche in Spain
Madrid (AFP) Jan 26, 2019 - A Spanish skier died on Saturday after being caught in an avalanche in the Pyrenees mountains, police said, adding they were investigating whether the man had been off piste.

The 31-year-old Spaniard from Barcelona was skiing in the Baqueira Beret ski resort when the avalanche hit, a spokesman for the Mossos d'Esquadra police force in the northeastern region of Catalonia told AFP.

He would not reveal his identity.

The skier was transferred to hospital but died there from his injuries, the spokesman said.

French skier killed in Japan avalanche
Tokyo (AFP) Jan 26, 2019 - A French man has been killed in an avalanche while skiing on a Japanese mountain, local police said Saturday.

Marc-Olivier Gariou-Pouillas, 49, was skiing off-piste on Mt Ogenashi in Myoko City, some 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of Tokyo on Friday afternoon when an avalanche occurred, according to police.

"His two friends saw him engulfed by the avalanche and called for help," Myoko police spokesman Takahiro Chiba said.

"The ski resort patrol there and other skiers managed to dig him up... A police helicopter airlifted him to a hospital but he was pronounced dead," he told AFP.

The avalanche was some 300 metres (1000 feet) long and 30 metres wide, he added.

Gariou-Pouillas had been on a skiing trip in Japan since mid-January with two other Frenchmen, according to police.

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