At least 12 people have been killed and dozens injured by wildfires in northern Algeria.
Interior Minister, Said Sayoud said on Wednesday nite that 54 people had been injured with burns, six of them in intensive care.
“Dozens of fires are ravaging several provinces along the country’s northern coast,” said civil protection authorities.
Sayoud said five people were killed in Jijel province, four in Bejaia and three in Tizi Ouzou.
Sayoud accompanied Algerian Health Minister Mohamed Messaoudene to Bejaia to “assess” the local firefighting and evacuation efforts.
The deaths come as northern Africa is suffering a scorching heatwave, with Tunisia and Algeria particularly affected.
Civil protection agency and local media say many homes have been evacuated in Bejaia and Jijel.
Civil protection said Wednesday evening that firefighters were fighting 69 fires across the country.
Three years ago, fires raged through forest and farmland in the Bejaia region, killing 30 people.
Crews fought more than 2,000 blazes across Algeria in July alone, with officials reporting last month that at least six people died.
While Algeria often faces forest fires around the summer months, recent wildfires in the country have been aggravated and exacerbated by climate change.
Extreme heat is now the norm in North Africa, one of six subregions of Africa (the other five are Central, East, West, Southern and the whole continent) which has seen the fastest warming of 0.43C per decade from 1991 to 2025, said the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
A study has shown that rising heat and water shortages are causing more camels to die in Algeria during summer heat waves.
