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Rabat – At least 65 individuals have died as a result of fires in Algeria, says the national press agency, Algeria Press Service (APS).
Algerian authorities have referred to these fires as “criminal,” and it has continued to ravage the north of the country.
The tragedy is exacerbated by scorching temperatures and seriously scarce water supplies.
Firefighters, supported by the military, and volunteers are struggling to stop the multiple fires, which have killed at least 65 people as of today.
The spokesman of the Civil Protection, Nassim Barnaoui, mentioned 69 fires still active, in 17 wilayas (prefecture).
The most important are in the wilaya of Tizi-Ouzou, which has also experienced the most human casualties.
The worst tragedy occurred late Tuesday when28 soldiers died while evacuating villagers threatened by flames in the mountains of Bejaia and Tizi-Ouzou.
The Ministry of National Defense said that many soldiers suffered burns of varying degrees.
Their intervention has “saved one hundred and ten citizens from the flames: men, women and children” in the mountains of Bejaia and Tizi-Ouzou, the ministry added in a statement.
The cities of Bouira, Setif, Khenchela, Guelma, Bejaia, Bordj Bou Arreridj, Boumerdes, Tiaret, Medea, Tebessa, Blida and Skikda are affected, reported the Directorate General of Civil Protection on Twitter.
The Algerian public radio announced the arrest of three “arsonists” in Medea this Tuesday. A fourth was arrested in Annaba, according to the official agency APS.
While Algeria is facing an episode of extreme heat wave, the winds have spread fires and complicate rescue efforts, said Youcef Ould Mohamed, the local forestry officer, quoted by APS.
Images and videos of the fires are circulating on social networks, showing charred trunks, asphyxiated livestock dying, and villages surrounded by smoke while the surrounding hills glow with flames.
Calls for solidarity are circulating on social networks, especially to collect food, medicine and help with the delivery of water to fight the fires.
Internet users are also asking for help to provide bandages, fatty tulle or cream for burns to hospitals or crisis centers short of material. Several trucks carrying equipment donated by citizens and merchants left the capital, noted a correspondent of Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Other calls urged the authorities to seek international assistance to overcome the fires. “Only the airway using heavy materials, such as Canadair, among others, is able to circumscribe the fires”, plead in a statement received by AFP a group of “democratic activists in Algeria and abroad”.
For his part, Prime Minister, Aimene Benabderrahmane, said on television that Algiers was “at an advanced stage of discussions with European partners to rent firefighting aircraft,” without naming the countries contacted.
Algeria is experiencing a summer heat wave marked by the scarcity of water in the country. Meteorological services forecast temperatures of up to 47 degrees Celsius. Each year, the country is affected by forest fires. In 2020, nearly 44,000 hectares of crop burned to the ground. The authorities had announced that they had arrested several perpetrators of arson.
This phenomenon is growing as fires multiply across the globe. They are associated with various phenomena anticipated by scientists due to global warming. The increase in temperature, the increase in heat waves and the decrease in precipitation in some places is an ideal combination for the development of fires.
The extreme heat is expected to continue until the end of the week in the Maghreb, until August 15 according to the Algerian meteorological services, with temperatures reaching 46 degrees.
In neighboring Tunisia, the capital broke its absolute record with 49 degrees on Tuesday. During the heatwave, 15 fires started in the northern and western parts of the country, with no casualties, according to Moez Triaa, spokesman for Tunisian civil protection.
On the northern shore of the Mediterranean, Greece and Turkey have been the most affected in the last two weeks, with a series of violent fires that have killed eight people on the Turkish coast and three in Greece.
