Rabat- Algerian authorities announced the arrest of four people accused of deliberately starting forest fires.
The country continues to battle wildfire outbreaks, with officials classifying the alleged acts as sabotage offenses. Such offenses are punishable by the death penalty under Algeria’s law.
Police put the four suspects in custody pending an investigation to determine the circumstances of the case.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Sidi M’Hamed Court in Algiers said the arrests stemmed from three separate fires.
Prosecutors also publicly released the names and photographs of the four suspects as authorities intensified their investigation
Officials said Saber Ayoub Ben Fougal and Abderrahmane Fouaizia were arrested after investigators recovered video footage that allegedly showed them setting fire to brushland near Constantine’s Pine neighborhood.
A third suspect, Farouk Lemouissi, was accused of setting shrubs and trees along Soummam Road in Constantine, with prosecutors saying surveillance footage captured the incident.
The fourth suspect, Saif Eddine Ben Khalifa, was allegedly caught setting fire to two piles of copper wires along the highway connecting Constantine and Annaba.
Prosecutors said the blaze spread to nearby woodland, burning about two hectares of forest.
The prosecutor’s office said the four suspects were referred to judicial authorities on Wednesday and placed under formal investigation on charges, including committing acts of sabotage that endangered lives, public safety and property, as well as intentionally setting fire to state-owned forest land.
Following their initial questioning, the investigating judge ordered all four suspects into pretrial detention.
Authorities evacuated residents from threatened communities, according to Anadolu, which also cited data from the country’s Interior Ministry showing that six people have died in wildfires affecting multiple provinces in recent days.
The report added that firefighters had extinguished 104 of 170 reported wildfires by Tuesday evening but were still battling 66 active fires across 19 provinces.
