Rescuers search for bomb survivors

ALGIERS, Algeria (CNN) -- More than 24 hours after twin bombings killed dozens in the Algerian capital, rescue workers continued to search for nearly a dozen people trapped beneath the debris of a partially collapsed United Nations building.

The latest official death toll from the Algerian government is 31 -- including five foreign nationals -- but hospital sources say that more than 60 were killed in the bombings and that number could rise, as 11 people are still missing and are feared dead.

Rescue teams worked through the night, pulling out seven people alive from the rubble by 2 a.m. Wednesday. They held out little hope for the 11 still missing by late Wednesday afternoon.

U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said Wednesday at least nine U.N. staff members were killed in the bombing, while several others are still missing.

"Hopes for finding any survivors have dimmed," she said.

The bombing near the U.N. offices happened minutes after another suspected truck bomb detonated near Algeria's Constitutional Council -- which oversees elections -- and Supreme Court.

That blast struck a bus outside the targeted building, killing many of those on board, according to Algeria's state-run news agency.

Al Qaeda Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for both attacks, saying two suicide bombers driving trucks with "no less than 800 kilograms (1,763 pounds) of explosives" carried out both bombings.

The group claimed to have killed at least 110 people.

CNN cannot independently corroborate that claim, which was posted on a Web site known to carry messages, claims and videos from al Qaeda and other militant groups.

The group called the operation "another successful conquest and a second epic that the knights of faith have dictated with their blood, defending the wounded Islamic nation and in defiance to the Crusaders and their agents, the slaves of America and the sons of France."

Prior to the claim of responsibility, Algerian Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni immediately blamed the attacks on al Qaeda Islamic Maghreb, though he used its original name, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC).

That group also took responsibility for an attack in April in downtown Algiers that killed 33 people.

The group changed its name to al Qaeda Islamic Maghreb after merging with al Qaeda earlier this year.

It abandoned small-scale attacks in favor of headline-grabbing blasts after it joined with al Qaeda. Zerhouni said police interrogations of GSPC members arrested in the wake of the April attack revealed that Algeria's Constitutional Council and Supreme Court were on a list of GSPC targets.

Earlier, in a strongly worded statement, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned what he called "an abjectly cowardly strike against civilian officials serving humanity's highest ideals under the U.N. banner."

"The perpetrators of these crimes will not escape the strongest possible condemnation -- and ultimate punishment -- by Algerian authorities and the international community," Ban said in the written statement.

He said he has sent senior advisers and other top U.N. officials to head to Algiers to assist in the investigation and rescue effort.

Most of those killed in the coordinated attacks were victims of the first suspected car bombing near the Constitutional Council -- which oversees elections -- and Supreme Court in the Algiers neighborhood of Ben Aknoun, according to the state-run Algeria Press Agency.

That blast struck a bus outside the targeted building, killing many of those on board, the news agency reported.

One man said he heard the first blast then the second exploded in front of him. "I saw the trees falling and the glass shattering in front of me. I had to run away from the car," he said.

Algeria, which has a population of 33 million, is still recovering from more than a decade of violence that began after the military government called a halt to elections which an Islamist party was poised to win.

Tens of thousands of people died in the unrest. Although the country has remained relatively peaceful, recent terrorist attacks have raised fears of a slide back to violence. E-mail to a friend