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.
Civil protection authorities said dozens of blazes tore through several provinces along the country’s northern coastline.
Sayoud said five people were killed in Jijel province, four in Bejaia and three in Tizi Ouzou.
Sayoud traveled to Bejaia with Algerian Health Minister Mohamed Messaoudene to “assess” local firefighting and evacuation efforts.
The deaths come as northern Africa swelters in a blistering heatwave, with Tunisia and Algeria especially hard hit.
Many homes in Bejaia and Jijel have been evacuated, civil protection agency and local media report.
Civil protection said Wednesday evening firefighters are fighting 69 fires across the country.
Three years ago, the Bejaia region suffered devastating fires that swept through forest and farmland, killing 30 people.
In July alone, crews fought over 2,000 fires across Algeria, with authorities recording at least six deaths last month.
While Algeria regularly experiences forest fires around the summer months, recent wildfires in the country have been intensified and worsened by climate change.
Extreme heat has become the norm in North Africa, one of the six subregions of Africa (the others are Central, East, West, Southern and the whole continent) which has experienced the fastest warming of 0.43C per decade from 1991 to 2025, said the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
A recent study has shown that rising heat and water shortages have led to an increase in camel deaths during summer heatwaves in Algeria.
