Death toll from Algeria wildfires rises to over 40

At least 43 people have died from wildfires that have raged for days in northern Algeria, with numbers expected to rise further, the gendarmerie said on Monday.

Thirteen people have been arrested over suspicion of involvement in starting the fires, it added.

#Algeria #Algerie : Raging forest fire in Souk Ahras #سوق_هراس #الجزائر pic.twitter.com/M1kGrey37A

— sebastian usher (@sebusher) August 17, 2022

"The latest toll of victims from the fires increased to 43," from 38 recorded two days earlier, the gendarmerie command said on state radio.

Fires had swept through 14 wilayas, or administrative councils, in the north of the country, with most concentrated in the northeastern El Tarf region near the border with Tunisia.

The gendarmerie, which operates under the defence ministry, added that they are still working on identifying the bodies of the victims.

The death toll is expected to increase, it said, despite earlier reports that the fires had mostly been contained.

حرائق ضخمة في ولايات متعددة بالجزائر..

المعلومات الأولية تفيد أن 26 شخص مات بسبب النيران... ربي يتقبلهم شهداء وحفظ الله الباقين.

المقطع من ولاية الطارف. pic.twitter.com/IGa4Tsj4ol

— إياد الحمود (@Eyaaaad) August 17, 2022

Civil protection services said some 31 fires were put out in various parts of the North African country between Saturday and Sunday.

More than 1,000 families were evacuated from various districts over the past few days, the civil defence's Colonel Boualem Boughlef said on Saturday.

The fires, which have become a yearly fixture due to climate change, have devastated thousands of hectares (acres) of woodland in the mostly-desert country.

Fires last year killed at least 90 people and seared 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) of forest and farmland in the north.