Dozens killed in Algeria from forest fires in North Africa
- Wildfires in Algeria have killed 25 people, including 10 soldiers
- The Interior Ministry confirmed that at least 1,500 people have been evacuated
- The largest and deadliest forest fires have hit Bejaia, Jijel and Bouira
Wildfires in Algeria have killed 25 people, including 10 soldiers trying to bring the flames under control.
At least 1,500 people have been evacuated, the interior ministry said, while also confirming 15 dead and 24 injured from the fires.
The Algerian Defense Ministry later announced that 10 soldiers were killed and 25 injured fighting fires in the resort town of Beni Ksila, which is located east of the capital Algiers.
The largest and deadliest fires hit Bejaia and Jijel — located in the Kabyle region east of Algiers — as well as Bouira, about 100 kilometers southeast of Algiers, the interior ministry said.
Emergency services support included some 7,500 firefighters and 350 trucks on the ground, as well as additional air support in an effort to bring the fires under control.
A view of the wildfires that swept through Algeria, killing 25 people, including 10 soldiers
Emergency services support included some 7,500 firefighters attempting to fight the blazes
An aerial view of the burnt forest area after bushfires as teams partially contained the bushfires in Boumerdes
A fire truck drives along a road as a forest fire rages near the town of Melloula in northwestern Tunisia, close to the border with Algeria
The exact timing of the casualties remains unclear, but the fires had been raging across the country for several days.
Wildfires, some spread by strong winds, swept through forests and farmland in 16 regions, sparking 97 fires in Algeria.
Algeria has been hit by a number of wildfires in recent years, with at least 37 people killed in August 2022 following fires near the border with Tunisia.
A year earlier, authorities said dozens of people were killed in fires, including soldiers called in to help fight the blazes in the mountainous Kabyle region, which has been hit hard by the most recent wildfires.
An Algerian court subsequently sentenced 49 people to death for lynching a man falsely accused of starting the deadly 2021 wildfires.
The fires in Algeria come after wildfires have swept through Greece, with as many as 10,000 Britons estimated to be on the island, according to the foreign ministry.