Algeria

Algeria’s wildfires death toll rises to 37

cde.news desk 19 August 2022, 10:00 · 1 min read

epa10127254 People inspect a burnt vehicle following a wildfire in El Kala, in Al Tarf province, northeast of Algeria, 18 August 2022. Algerian Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud announced that since the beginning of August, 106 fires have broken out, destroying 800 hectares of forest, twenty-six people have died, and several dozen others have been injured in forest fires that have affected fourteen departments in northern Algeria. EPA-EFE/STR

The death toll from wildfires in Algeria has risen to 37, the local Ennahar TV reported, citing the Algerian Civil Protection Directorate.

The number of injured also increased to 183 people, the report added.

The wildfires are burning in mountainous areas and the victims were from the provinces of Al Taref, and Setif, in the eastern part of the arid and semi-arid country, Africa’s largest.

Most of the wildfires have been put out while some are under control, but firefighters and helicopters are still monitoring the provinces, according to officials.

A year ago, at least 65 were killed by wildfires in the Kabylie region.

Reporting by Mahmoud Mourad and Lamine Chikhi; editing by Diane Craft, Richard Chang and Sandra Maler