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Fires raged in northern Algeria on Thursday as the country observed a day of national mourning for dozens of people killed in the latest forest fires that swept across the Mediterranean.
The North African country has been in the grip of devastating fires since Monday that have left at least 69 dead – 41 civilians and 28 soldiers.
Soldiers and civilian volunteers joined firefighters on several fronts in an attempt to put out fires fueled by the wind and drought.
In the district of Tizi Ouzou, an area where the number of victims is the highest, an AFP journalist reported that entire swathes of forest were going up in smoke.
Map of northern Algeria locating the main fires over the past 24 hours. By Cléa PÉCULIER (AFP) The villagers forced to evacuate to escape the flames began to return to their homes, overwhelmed by the extent of the damage.
“I have nothing left. My workshop, my car, my apartment. Even the tiles have been destroyed,” one of them told AFP.
But he said he “managed to save his family”, while adding that “neighbors have died or lost their loved ones”.
“A surge of solidarity”
The flags fluttered at half mast after President Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared three days of national mourning from Thursday.
Algerian authorities say they suspect widespread arson after so many fires broke out in such a short time.
Algerian flags fly at half mast in mourning for victims of forest fires in the Kabylie region in Algiers, the capital of Algeria, on August 12, 2021. By Ryad KRAMDI (AFP) On the fourth day of the wildfires, efforts to defeat the fires continue in many areas where civilians and soldiers, often with limited means, have joined the fight.
Images of trapped villagers, terrified cattle and wooded hills reduced to blackened stumps were shared on social media.
Algeria is also charters two firefighting planes from the European Union, planes recently used to fight fires in Greece.
France also announced the arrival in Algeria of two Canadair firefighting planes it sent.
“They will help the rescue efforts to cope with the terrible fires that Algeria has been facing for several days,” French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted Thursday.
Burned houses stand among charred trees, following a forest fire in the wooded hills of the Kabylie region, east of the Algerian capital. By Ryad KRAMDI (AFP) Neighboring Morocco, with which Algeria has long had strained ties over Western Sahara, has also offered to help by providing two planes.
Faced with the scale of the disaster, calls for help are multiplying in Algeria and beyond.
“Individuals and associations are mobilizing (…) by organizing collections of clothing, food, medicines and hygiene products,” said the Algerian news site TSA, qualifying this as “impetus of solidarity “.
Heat wave
High winds fueled the rapid spread of the flames in the dry tinder-like conditions created by a heat wave across North Africa and the wider Mediterranean.
Volunteers from the SIDRA association participate in an initiative with the Algerian Food Bank to send aid packages to victims of forest fires in Kabylia in Algiers, the capital of Algeria, on August 12, 2021. By Ryad KRAMDI ( AFP) Authorities have raised the possibility of criminal behavior.
Four suspected “arsonists” have so far been arrested, but their identity or alleged motives have not yet been disclosed.
Chief of the armed forces Saïd Chengriha visited soldiers in Tizi Ouzou and Bejaia, another badly affected area. Prime Minister Aimene Benabderrahmane also visited Tizi Ouzou.
Every summer Algeria experiences seasonal wildfires, but rarely anything nearing this year’s disaster.
An injured man watches during a forest fire in Tizi Ouzou. By Ryad KRAMDI (AFP) Meteorologists expect the heatwave in the Maghreb to continue through the end of the week, with temperatures in Algeria reaching 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit).
On the other side of the Tunisian border, where nearly 30 fires have been recorded since Monday, mercury reached a historic record of 50.3 degrees Celsius in the central region of Kairouan (center).
On the northern shores of the Mediterranean, deadly forest fires have raged in Turkey and Greece for two weeks.
In Italy, where firefighters fought more than 500 blazes overnight, Sicily on Wednesday recorded a temperature of 48.8 degrees Celsius (119.8 Fahrenheit), which would be a new European record.
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