By Mohamed Arezki Himeur BBC correspondent in Algiers

A heat wave has hit Algeria, killing up to 50 people since the beginning of July, the Algerian press has reported.

Most of the victims lived in the Sahara Desert, in the south of the country, where temperatures have regularly reached between 47 and 50 degrees Celsius (86 - 122 Fahrenheit).

The ill, babies and the elderly are among the main victims.

According to the official weather bureau in Tamanrasset, such high temperatures had never been recorded over the past 50 years.

On 12 July, temperatures reached as high as 56 degrees C (133 F) in the region of Tamanrasset, 2,000 km (1,242 miles) south of Algiers.

Inadequate healthcare

Algeria's daily newspaper El Watan said that most of the people died near the town of In Salah in Tamanrasset.

According to El Watan - which quotes the town's mayor - on average two people are dying there every day.

Another newspaper, Le Matin, suggests the death toll might be even higher as not all families have been able to register the deaths of their relatives.

Le Matin also said that some people suffering from chronic diseases - as well as some elderly people - have died because local health facilities are almost non-existent.

There is only one health centre in In Salah, and it has no specialists who could deal with severe cases of dehydration.

Even in cases of emergency, local residents cannot afford to send their families away to the north of the country.

A return plane ticket Algiers costs the equivalent of around $130.