In the last two days, Algeria has suffered a particularly dazzling and deadly episode of wildfires. Born on Wednesday, the fires are now considered “fully controlled”, in the words of Civil Protection on the morning of this Friday. But the human balance, established at this point in 38 dead, and material, is already very high.
The tragedy exposes the ecological threats facing the country due to climate change and its shortcomings in fighting these fires.
• Fires concentrated in the north and east, 16 outbreaks are still active
Civil Protection counted for the first time 39 forest fires since Wednesday, divided into 14 “wilayas”, equivalent to our prefectures. However, this statistic has been revised upwards to 118 households in 21 prefectures. For the most part, the outbreaks were concentrated in the north and east of the country. The authorities, however, consider that these fires are already contained. It is in any case the meaning of the Civil Protection statement that stated this Friday morning that the fires were “fully controlled.”
During a press conference organized the day before, Colonel Farouk Achour, commander of Civil Protection, acknowledged that there were still “16 active outbreaks in seven wilayas”, but was especially pleased that the fires hit the El Tarf and Souk sectors. Ahras. they are “under control”. These were in fact the main points of attachment in the front of the flames.
• 38 dead, including 10 firefighters
The human cost of fires is very high. It is estimated at 38 dead and more than 200 injured, including 10 firefighters for a balance that remains provisional. And it is precisely the region of El Tarf, on the border with Tunisia, that paid the highest price for the flames, with 30 deaths, including eleven children and six women.
Observers reported particularly gruesome scenes. On the side of El Kala, a municipality bordering El Tarf, a dozen people lost their lives after being trapped in a bus parked near the local zoo. “We try to help families escape. No one came to help us, not the firemen or anyone else. It was the employees who tried to get people out of the park that was surrounded by flames, “said Takyeddine, one of the park employees, quoted by AFP.
The scourge has also devastated Sétif, in the north of the country, Guelma, in the east, and especially Souk Ahras, which mourns the death of an entire family.
As for the forested area, the Algerian media TSA, based on data from the Ministry of the Interior, estimated that 14,000 hectares had been burned in the El Tarf region alone.
• 350 families evacuated
The disaster forced the authorities to evacuate the population in time. Thus, 350 families have been evacuated. In Souk Ahras, one hospital was even forced to empty its staff and patients, including 97 women and 17 newborns. The establishment was located on the edge of the forest.
Television and non-professional cameramen have also captured scenes of panic in the face of the advance of the flames, as shown in the tweet by journalist Chebli Ishaq below, accompanied by a video filmed in this same city of Souk Ahras.
• 1,700 firefighters and 280 tanker trucks mobilized
Algeria has mobilized its resources to respond to the danger. At the height of the fight to put out the flames, 1,700 Civil Protection agents were working hard, assisted by 67 members of the General Directorate of Forestry, according to Atalayar. Civil Protection has also chartered its helicopters to cross the sky, and the same has been done by the National Popular Army. This still put 280 tank trucks into circulation.
The Algerian relay also thought that it could bet on the Beriev-BE 200, a Russian-made water bomber aircraft, presented until last Monday as “the star of the summer” by the press. Only that the “star” broke down on Wednesday and will not be operational until Saturday, according to the Ministry of the Interior, broadcast by AFP.
• Scarcity of means and ecological threats: the causes of the drama
Apart from the bankruptcy of Beriev, the lack of means to fight fires effectively seems to be one of the aggravating factors of the crisis. The executive is at this convulsive point. It is true that Aymen Benabderrahmane, the Prime Minister, stressed that the government had ordered four water bombers… But the country will only receive the first one next December. As for the seven tanker planes that Algeria had to acquire from Spain to reinforce its forces to fight the fires, they will never arrive: the contract was canceled purely and simply in the context of diplomatic tensions over the issue of Western Sahara.
Should this be seen as a sign of shame? In any case, the political leaders point in another direction when explaining the ordeals experienced by the rescuers. Aymen Benabderrahmane, after a visit to the El Tarf hospital, recalled that the gusts of wind measured at more than 90 km/h made fighting the fire “very difficult”.
Algeria is also facing the full force of mounting ecological dangers, with climate change piling up and aggravating conditions already leading to disaster. Although Algeria has the largest area in Africa, it is a predominantly desert country, with only 4.1 million hectares of forest for a reforestation rate of only 1.76%.
Between this endemic drought, the scarcity of its vegetation and global warming – we measured 48 degrees on Wednesday in El Tarf, Guelma and Souk Ahras – Algeria seems doomed to the annual return of forest fires. Last summer, Kabylia was also affected by the worst fires that have swept through Algeria since independence in 1962, with at least 90 dead and 100,000 hectares lost. Since the beginning of August, the territory has experienced 106 fire outbreaks.
• At least four arrests
While firefighters and soldiers are about to stop them, now it’s up to the police to shed light on the origin of these fire starts. The investigation, initiated by the Ministry of Justice, has already led to the arrest of several suspects in the country. Three men were detained by the gendarmes near El Tarf. It is suspected that they have set fire to the crops of one of their neighbors. Finally, the Souk Ahras prosecutor’s office announced the arrest of an arsonist in a forest near the city.
The responsibilities remain to be established, but for the Ministry of the Interior the thing is not in doubt. According to an official statement from the institution, Algeria has indeed been plagued by “caused” fires.
Source: BFM TV
