Algeria declares national mourning over wildfire deaths

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Thursday declared a three-day national mourning after wildfires in the northeast killed at least 12 people and injured dozens.

Tebboune in a statement described the deaths as "a great tragedy" while authorities have not updated a death toll of 12 people from Wednesday.

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

The Algerian civil protection said Thursday morning that 46 fires were still burning out of 193 recorded over the previous 24 hours.

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

Three major roads connecting regions in the east of the country were closed due to forest fires near the cities of Bejaia, Jijel and Setif, the gendarmerie said.

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.