At least 11 people were killed and 19 others injured in a fire that broke out at an orphanage on the outskirts of Algiers overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, Algerian emergency services said.
The blaze erupted at the Foundation for Assisted Children, located in the municipality of Mohammadia, where Civil Protection teams were dispatched at around 3:00 a.m. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
In a statement, the Civil Protection Authority reported a provisional toll of 11 fatalities and 19 injuries, adding that firefighting operations were still ongoing. The agency did not disclose the ages of the victims or specify whether children were among those killed or injured.
Algerian Prime Minister Sifi Ghrieb visited the injured at the Zeralda Burns Hospital on the outskirts of Algiers, as well as at Mustapha Bacha Hospital in the capital.
The tragedy comes as Algeria grapples with an intense heatwave, particularly across the country’s northern regions. Civil protection services recorded 932 fires between July 8 and July 15, of which 913 had been brought under control by Wednesday morning, according to Lieutenant Colonel Karim Harbi, Deputy Director of Operations, as quoted by the state-run Algeria Press Service (APS).
More than 19,000 personnel, over 700 fire trucks and emergency response vehicles, six helicopters, and 12 water-bomber aircraft have been deployed to combat forest fires.
Every summer, northern Algeria is affected by recurring wildfires, exacerbated by drought, extreme temperatures, and the impacts of climate change.
AK/te/lb/as/APA