Wildfires kill 34 in Algeria as heatwave sweeps north Africa
Smoke rises following a wildfire in Bejaia, Algeria, July 24, 2023 in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. - Ammouri Abderahmane/via REUTERS
ALGIERS: The death toll as wildfires sweep across regions of Algeria has risen to 34 people including 10 soldiers on Monday, the interior ministry said, as a heatwave spreads across north Africa and southern Europe.
Some 8,000 firefighters were battling to bring the flames under control, authorities said.
The interior ministry said that it is continuing its firefighting operations in the Boumerdes, Bouira, Tizi Ouzou, Jijel, Bejaia and Skikda regions.
About 1,500 people have been evacuated so far.
The authorities have launched a judicial investigation into the causes of the fires.
A major heatwave is sweeping across North Africa, with temperatures of 49 Celsius (120 Fahrenheit) recorded in some cities in neighbouring Tunisia.
In Tunisia, wildfires swept through the border town of Melloula. Witnesses told Reuters that fires that had begun in mountainous areas had reached some people's homes in the town and forced hundreds of families to flee.
A civil protection official said that they had evacuated hundreds of the town's residents by land and by sea, in fishermen's boats and coastguard vessels.
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