- Title: At least 65 killed in Algerian wildfires
- Date: 11th August 2021
- Summary: ZEKRI, TIZI OUZOU, ALGERIA (AUGUST 11, 2021) (REUTERS) SMOKE RISING FROM FOREST FIRE AND HEAVY SMOKE IN FOREST HELICOPTER FLYING OVER FOREST TO PUT OUT FIRE VARIOUS OF BURNT TREES HELICOPTER FLYING OVER FOREST TO PUT OUT FIRE CAR DRIVING PAST FOREST HOUSE IN FOREST / SMOKE SEEN IN BACKGROUND (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ALGERIAN VILLAGER, YOUGHORTA, SAYING: "The fire broke out and burnt the houses, not all of them but what can I say? We relied on God and did our best to put it out." VARIOUS OF BURNT TREES VARIOUS OF BUILDINGS AND BURNT FOREST (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ALGERIAN VILLAGER, MUSAAB, SAYING: "Fire ravaged everything and the government is absent. Only one civil defense vehicle came. If people did not help, all the houses would have been burnt." BUILDING SURROUNDED BY BURNT TREES SMOKE RISING OVER FOREST MOSQUE VARIOUS OF SMOKE AND FOREST
- Embargoed: 25th August 2021 15:26
- Keywords: Algeria Climate Change Fires Wildfires
- Location: ZEKRI, TIZI OUZOU, ALGERIA
- City: ZEKRI, TIZI OUZOU, ALGERIA
- Country: Algeria
- Topics: Africa,Environment,Temperature
- Reuters ID: LVA001EPU6SLJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Wildfires tearing through forested areas of northern Algeria have killed at least 65 people, state television reported on Wednesday (August 11), as some of the most destructive blazes in the country's history continued to rage.
The government has deployed the army to help fight the fires, which have burnt most fiercely in the mountainous Kabylie region.
28 of the dead are soldiers, with another 12 critically injured with burns.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared three days of national mourning for the dead and froze state activities not related to the fires.
Forest fires have set large parts of Algeria, Turkey and Greece aflame over the past week and a European Union atmosphere monitor said the Mediterranean had become a wildfire hotspot aided by increasingly hot weather.
Dozens of separate fires have raged through forest areas across northern Algeria since Monday and on Tuesday Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud accused arsonists of igniting the flames, without providing any evidence.
The worst hit area has been Tizi Ouzou, the largest district of the Kabylie region, where houses have burned and residents fled to shelter in hotels, hostels and university accommodation in nearby towns.
The government has said it will compensate those affected.
(Production: Abdelaziz Boumzar, Thawab Herzallah) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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