Thirty-eight people died and several dozen were injured in forest fires affecting 14 departments in northern Algeria. The human and environmental catastrophe rekindles the specter of summer 2021, the deadliest in the country’s modern history.
The death toll from the fires of recent days has increased with 30 dead in the area of El Tarf, in the far east, near the border with Tunisia, five in Souk Ahras, two women in Sétif, and one person in Guelma, in the east, according to civil protection, local journalists and Ennahar television.
In addition, more than 200 people were injured, according to local media. On the road to El Kala, near El Tarf, a town of 100,000, “a tornado of fire took everything away in seconds, most of the dead were surrounded while visiting an animal park“, described to AFP a local journalist.
Impressive television images show residents of this city fleeing their homes in the face of flames.
According to local media, more than 350 families have fled their homes in Souk Ahras.
The gendarmerie closed several roads because of the fires.
“Thirty-nine fires in 14 wilayas (prefectures) are in progress”, had indicated in the afternoon the civil protection, by specifying that the wilaya of El Tarf recorded the greatest number of fires with 16 fires, of which many still ongoing.
A charred forest after a fire near the village of Achlouf, in Kabylie, east of Algiers, Friday, August 13, 2021. Dozens of fires began to devour the wooded slopes of the Berber region on Monday. The president declared a three-day mourning period to honor the lives lost.
AP Photo/Toufik Doudou
According to private television Ennahar, around fifty people are hospitalized in El Tarf, a town of around 100,000 inhabitants.
Water bomber helicopters intervened in three prefectures including Souk Ahras, a locality of around 500,000 inhabitants. Those of civil protection are supported by army helicopters.
Algeria has chartered a Russian Beriev BE 200 water bomber plane. But after responding to various fires, it suffered a breakdown and will only be operational again from Saturday, August 20, according to Kamel Beldjoud.
These fires revive wounds and the debate on the absence of water bomber planes in sufficient numbers, which had already agitated the country last summer.
Cancellation of contract
According to the Mena Defense site, following their falling out with Spain, the Algerian authorities canceled a contract with the Spanish company Plysa, a specialized subsidiary of the airline Air Nostrum, for the supply of seven water bomber planes.
At the end of June, Algeria suspended a “treaty of friendship, good neighborliness and cooperation” concluded in 2002 with Spain, after Madrid’s reversal on the Western Sahara file to align itself with Morocco’s position. .
A French plane dumps water on a fire near the village of Toudja.
AP Photo/Toufik Doudou
No plan B has been planned to replace all of these Spanish planes, according to various media.
Since the beginning of August, 106 fires have broken out in Algeria, destroying 800 hectares of forest and 1,800 hectares of coppice, said the Minister of the Interior.
“Some of these fires are caused,” said Kamel Beldjoud. With the 26 dead on Wednesday, the balance sheet for the summer of 2022 climbs to 30 dead.
The largest country in Africa, Algeria has only 4.1 million hectares of forest, with a meager reforestation rate of 1.76%.
Each year, the north of the country is affected by forest fires, but this phenomenon is accentuated from year to year under the effect of climate change.
The summer of 2021 was the deadliest: at least 90 people died in forest fires that ravaged the North, where more than 100,000 hectares of coppice went up in smoke.
Climate warming increases the likelihood of heat waves and droughts and, in turn, fires.
