2023-07-25 13:54:46
the surge of fires that burns in the woods of northeast Algeria has caused the death of at least 34 people, according to the Ministry of the Interior. Between Sunday and Monday almost a hundred fires have been registered in the Kabylia region, the most important in the towns of Bugía, Al Buira and Jijel. Early this Tuesday, the authorities have reported that they have controlled a large part of the fires and currently there are fifteen assets remaining.
These fires coincide with an important hello of heat which has caused the temperatures They will touch 50 degrees. Among the dead are about ten soldiers who were trapped between the llamas when they were being evacuated, as reported by the Ministry of the Interior. In addition, some 1,500 people have left their homes for fear that the active fires will grow fueled by the wind that blows in the region. Currently, there are some 8,000 firefighters and more than 500 trucks deployed on the ground to stop the advance of the fires, accompanied by aerial means. The Bugía and Jijel prosecutors have opened an investigation to determine the causes of the fires and identify the perpetrators, if it is determined that they have been provoked.
“Every year we live the same thing,” laments a neighbor from this region by message, still with the vivid memory of last year’s disastrous fires. In August 2022, a total of 37 people were killed in the El Taref region, near the border with Tunisia, the fires also hit the Kabylia region and other points in the north of the country. Although it was in 2021, when the country experienced one of the blackest summers: the fire caused the death of 90 people.
Concern in the Maghreb
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These fires are becoming more frequent in this region of northern Africa due to the climate change. In some regions of Tunisia temperatures have topped 50 degrees. This Monday a major fire broke out in the west of the country, there are about 150 injured in the town of Tabarka and a hundred evacuees after the fire spread through their homes, according to the local Tunisian press.
In addition to increasingly harsh and frequent heat waves, the other great difficulty facing the Maghreb is the drought. In Moroccothe lack of rainy and the high temperatures have placed the country in a “critical” situation, according to experts. The dams are in a worrisome situation and the heat also causes the water reserves to drop due to evaporation. A scenario that is repeated in the other North African countries: in Tunisia, the authorities already began to carry out water cuts in some cities of the country at the end of March.
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