At least 65 killed as wildfires rage through forests in Algeria
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Charred trees were all that remained following a wildfire in Tizi Ouzou district, in Algeria's Kabylie region, on Tuesday. Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud has accused arsonists of igniting the flames, but he did not provide any evidence.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
ALGIERS • Wildfires tearing through forested areas of northern Algeria have killed at least 65 people, state television reported yesterday, as some of the most destructive blazes in the country's history continued to rage.
The government has deployed the army to help fight the fires, which have burned most fiercely in the mountainous Kabylie region, and 28 of the dead are soldiers, with another 12 critically injured with burns.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared three days of national mourning for the dead and froze state activities not related to the fires.
Forest fires have set large parts of Algeria, Turkey and Greece aflame over the past week and a European Union atmosphere monitor said the Mediterranean has become a wildfire hot spot aided by increasingly warm weather.
Dozens of separate fires have raged through forest areas across northern Algeria since Monday and on Tuesday, Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud accused arsonists of igniting the flames, without providing any evidence.
"Only criminal hands can be behind the simultaneous outbreak of about 50 fires across several localities," he said.
Prime Minister Ayman Benabderrahmane said on Tuesday night that the government was in "advanced talks with (foreign) partners to hire planes and help speed up the process of extinguishing fires".
The worst hit area was Tizi Ouzou, the largest district of the Kabylie region, where houses burned and residents fled to shelter in hotels, hostels and university housing in nearby towns.
Residents of Tizi Ouzou used tree branches to try to smother burning patches of forest or hurled water from plastic containers in a desperate effort to douse the fire.
"We had a horror night. My house is completely burned," said Mr Mohamed Kaci, who had fled with his family from the village of Azazga to a hotel.
The government has said it will compensate those affected.
REUTERS