The results of the fires which ravage the north of Algeria, in particular in Kabylia, are terrible and it is unfortunately only provisional. At least 42 people have lost their lives, authorities said on Tuesday, citing fires “of criminal origin” fueled by a heatwave episode. Algeria is indeed experiencing a summer marked by water scarcity and meteorological services predict temperatures of up to 47 degrees.
Started Monday evening, the fires killed 17 civilians in Tizi-Ouzou and Sétif, according to figures announced by the Prime Minister, Aïmène Benabderahmane, in the evening. By offering his condolences to the families of the victims, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune lamented on Twitter the death “as martyrs” of 25 soldiers who were trying to put out the flames. The Ministry of National Defense for its part clarified that 14 other soldiers were suffering from burns to varying degrees. Their intervention “made it possible to save 110 citizens from the flames: men, women and children,” added his ministry.
Europe’s help requested
Impressive images of the fires are circulating on social media, with charred logs, dying, asphyxiated cattle, and villages surrounded by smoke as the surrounding hills glow red. Appeals have been launched, still on social networks, to urge the authorities to seek international assistance. For his part, the Prime Minister affirmed on television that Algiers is “at an advanced stage of discussions with European partners to hire firefighting planes”, without citing the countries contacted.
For the Minister of the Interior Kamel Beldjoud, who went to Tizi-Ouzou, “these fires are of criminal origin”. “Fifty starts of fire at the same time, it’s impossible,” he said. According to the Prime Minister, more than 70 fires broke out in 18 wilayas (prefectures) in the north of the country. Civil protection has reported a hundred fires in 16 wilayas. The cities of Bouira, Sétif, Khenchela, Guelma, Bejaïa, Bordj Bou Arreridj, Boumerdès, Tiaret, Médéa, Tébessa, Blida and Skikda are affected, said the general directorate of civil protection.
Towards a stronger repression against arsonists
In Médéa, public radio announced the arrest of three “arsonists”. A fourth was arrested in Annaba, according to the Algerian news agency APS. During a Council of Ministers held on July 25, President Tebboune ordered the drafting of a bill severely punishing those responsible for arson in forests, with sentences of up to 30 years in prison, or even life imprisonment if the fire caused the death of individuals.