Algeria : Wildfires Leave At Least 65 Dead

Over 28 Algerian soldiers deployed to relief firefighters have been killed while saving residents from wildfires ravaging mountain forests and villages east of the capital, the president announced on Tuesday, August 10, 2021 as the civilian death toll from the blazes rose to at least 37. In a tweet to the nation President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune said soldiers saved 100 people from the fires in two areas of Kabyle. Eleven other soldiers burned fighting the fires, four of them seriously injured are in the hospital, the Defense Ministry said. Prime Minister Aïmene Benabderrahmane later said on state TV that 17 civilians had lost their lives, raising the death toll.
AFP reported that, the Kabyle region, situated 100 kilometers east of Algeria’s capital Algiers, is dotted with difficult access villages, very high temperature and limited water supply. As the fire approached, some villagers flee while others tried to hold back the flames themselves, using buckets, branches and rudimentary tools. The deaths and injuries of Tuesday occurred around Kabyle’s capital of Tizi-Ouzou, which is flanked by mountains, and in Bejaia, which borders the Mediterranean Sea.
Speaking on state television the Prime Minister said, that initial reports from security services showed the fires in Kabyle were “highly synchronized,” adding that “leads one to believe these were criminal acts.” Earlier, Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud traveled to Kabyle to assess the situation and also blamed th...