34 killed, including 10 soldiers, in Algeria wildfires: Authorities

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
24 Jul 2023 18:59

The Algerian Interior Ministry says some 7,500 firefighters were working on extinguishing the flames.

A man sprays water on burnt trees in a forest in Melloula near Tabarka at the northwestern Tunisian border with Algeria, on July 20 (AFP)

The Algerian Interior Ministry confirmed on Monday that wildfires raging across northern Algeria amid a heatwave have killed 34 people, including 10 soldiers, and forced mass evacuations, amid a major heatwave sweeping across North African countries.

As temperatures hit 48 degrees Celsius (118 Fahrenheit), the North African country recorded 97 blazes across 16 provinces, fanned by strong winds, highlighted the Interior Ministry.

The fires injured several people and raged through residential areas, it said, adding that most had been put out.

Some 1,500 people were evacuated from the Bejaia, Bouira, and Jijel provinces east of the capital Algiers, according to the Ministry.

The Interior Ministry said 7,500 firefighters and 350 firetrucks were mobilized to fight the flames, aided by aerial fire-fighting support.

Operations were underway to extinguish fires in six provinces, it added, calling on citizens to "avoid areas affected by the fires" and to report new blazes on toll-free phone numbers.

"Civil protection services remain mobilized until the fires are completely extinguished," the Ministry said.

Fires regularly rage through forests and fields in Algeria in summer and have been exacerbated this year by a heatwave that has seen several Mediterranean countries break temperature records.

In May, Algerian authorities said they were preparing for wildfires by purchasing and renting water bombers and constructing landing strips for helicopters and fire-fighting drones.

In August 2022, massive blazes killed 37 in Algeria’s northeastern El Tarf province. It was preceded by the deadliest summer in decades, with 90 people killed in such fires in 2021, particularly in the Kabylie region.

Scientists rank the Mediterranean region as a climate-change "hot spot", with the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warning of more heatwaves, crop failures, droughts, and rising seas.