Algeria: at least 26 dead after fires in several cities

Twenty-six people died and several dozen were injured in the forest fires that affected 14 departments in northern Algeria on Wednesday, reviving the specter of the summer of 2021, the deadliest in the modern history of the country.

“Twenty-six people died: two in Sétif and 24 in El Tarf),” near the border with Tunisia, Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud announced during the 8:00 p.m. television news.

Several people suffer from burns or breathing difficulties, but no new official figures have been released on the number of injured. An earlier civil protection report reported four people burned to varying degrees and another 41 suffering from breathing difficulties in Souk Ahras, another town bordering Tunisia.

mobilized helicopters

Impressive television images show the inhabitants of this city fleeing their houses before the flames. According to local media, more than 350 families have fled their homes in Souk Ahras.

“Thirty-nine fires in 14 wilayas (prefectures) are ongoing,” Civil Protection had indicated in the afternoon, specifying that the wilaya of El Tarf registered the highest number of fires with 16 fires, of which many are still ongoing.

According to private television Ennahar, about fifty people are hospitalized in El Tarf, a city of about 100,000 inhabitants. Helicopter bombers intervened in three prefectures, including Souk Ahras, a town of about 500,000 people. Those of civil protection are supported by army helicopters.

Algeria has chartered a Russian Beriev BE 200 water bomber plane. But after responding to several fires, it suffered a breakdown and will not be operational again until Saturday, according to Kamel Beldjoud.

The summer of 2021 was deadly

Since the beginning of August there have been 106 fires in Algeria, which have destroyed 800 hectares of forest and 1,800 hectares of scrubland, according to the Interior Minister. With the 26 dead on Wednesday, the balance for the summer of 2022 rises to 30 dead.

Algeria, the largest country in Africa, has only 4.1 million hectares of forest, with a meager reforestation rate of 1.76%. Every year, the north of the country is affected by forest fires, but this phenomenon is accentuated year after year under the effect of climate change.

The summer of 2021 was the deadliest: at least 90 people died in the forest fires that devastated the north, where more than 100,000 hectares of scrubland went up in smoke.