Wildfires kill 42 people including 25 soldiers in Algeria

In Algeria, wildfires have killed 42 people including 25 soldiers. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune yesterday expressed condolences for 25 soldiers who were killed as they rescued people in the areas of Bejaiea and Tizi Ouzou, the epicentre of the blazes.

The North African country’s Prime Minister Ayman Benabderrahmane told the state television that the government had asked for help from the international community and was in talks with partners to hire planes to extinguish fires. Dozens of fires started up in the Kabyle region and



elsewhere and Algerian authorities sent in the Army to help citizens with the blazes and evacuations. Multiple fires were burning through forests, destroying olive trees and killing cattle and chickens.

The Kabyle region, 100 kilometres east of Algiers, the capital, has many difficult-to-access villages and limited water.

Algeria joins a string of countries to be hit by major blazes in recent weeks, including Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and the western United States.