The death toll from fires in mountain forests and villages in Algeria’s Berber region rose to 65 on Wednesday, including 28 soldiers, as the president declared a three-day mourning period to honor those lost this week . Of.
The Civil Defense Authority announced an increase in the number of victims, including 25 soldiers, from 42 on Tuesday.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said his North African nation would enter a three-day mourning period starting Thursday that would include the suspension of all government activities except as acts of solidarity.
Dozens of fires began to devour forested mountains in the Berber region of Kabyle, east of the capital Algiers, destroying village homes, olive groves and the animals that provide livelihoods for the region.
The director of forestry in the regional capital Tizi-Ozhou said on Wednesday that 18 fires are active in the region. Dozens of fires burned elsewhere throughout the north, but their deadly power was concentrated in Kabyle.
There was no official explanation for the high mortality rate among soldiers, but photographs in Algerian media showed soldiers in their army uniforms with no protective firefighting clothing.
In the mountainous Kabyle region, 100 kilometers (60 mi) east of the Algerian capital, Algiers, smoke invites up the mountains after a forest fire in the village of Clean Tizi Ozou, Larba nath Erathen. (AP)
Both the prime minister and the interior minister said on Tuesday that the Kabyle fire was suspected of arson, despite a heat wave and flames.
Online media outlet TSA reported that citizens, mainly youth, were helping to supply supplies to residents in need and that “caravans of solidarity” were headed to Tizi-Ozhou.
Warmer temperatures are rising in North Africa, including neighboring Tunisia, where scattered fires were reported in the past. Algeria’s National Meteorological Office reported that high temperatures were expected in about a dozen villas or regions, including Tizi-Ozou, by Thursday. In some places, the thermometer was estimated to reach 47 °C (116 °F).
Climate scientists say there is little doubt that climate change is driving extreme events, such as heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods and hurricanes, from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas. A worsening drought and heat – both linked to climate change – are driving wildfires in the US West and Russia’s northern region of Siberia. The scorching heat is fueling huge fires in Greece and Turkey.
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