Algeria mourns wildfire victims as firefighters battle deadly blazes

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared three days of national mourning on Thursday and cancelled all cultural events and sporting competitions.

“With a heavy heart and a soul in mourning at the tragedy of the loss of our fellow citizens,” Tebboune said in a statement announcing the mourning period.

Five people died in Jijel province, four in Bejaia and three in Tizi Ouzou, Interior Minister Said Sayoud said on Wednesday. Another 54 people were being treated in hospital for burns, including six in a serious condition.

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Fires still burning

Algeria's civil protection service said on Thursday morning that 46 fires were still burning out of 193 recorded over the previous 24 hours.

Videos shared online overnight on Wednesday showed fires engulfing large areas as residents were trapped by the flames. AFP was not immediately able to verify the footage.

Three major roads connecting regions in eastern Algeria were closed because of forest fires near the cities of Bejaia, Jijel and Setif, the gendarmerie said.

Weather conditions were complicating firefighting operations, the interior ministry said.

“Adverse weather conditions, rising temperatures, strong and intense winds, and high concentrations of smoke prevented the continued deployment of aircraft in the fire-fighting operations,” Sayoud said on Thursday.

Extreme heat

Three Algerian cities were at the top of a global list of the highest temperatures, with Bouchegouf reaching 49.8C, the latest data published by international weather portal Eldorado Weather showed.

Forest fires occur regularly in northern Algeria during the summer, but climate change is amplifying their impact by causing increasingly frequent droughts and intense heat.

More than 30 people were killed in July 2023 when fires tore through thousands of hectares of forests and farmland, as well as hundreds of homes, in the area around Bejaia.

Authorities recorded nearly 2,000 fires nationwide in July this year.

Neighbouring Morocco is also living through an intense heatwave, with temperatures reaching 49C.

(with newswires)