This Friday, about three-quarters of the fires that devastated a good part of Algerian territory were controlled, especially those in the Tizi Ouzou region in Kabylia, which turns out to be the most affected part.
Civil Protection thus announced “the extinction this morning of all the forest fires that started in Tizi Ouzou”, before noting that, nevertheless, “five sources of fire” had been registered. In total, 76 fires were put out, while the previous day there had been a hundred, in 15 prefectures of the country, according to AFP.
At the scene, firefighters and volunteers continue to fight the flames. The results of Civil Protection are still 35 fires in another 11 prefectures such as Jijel, Bejaïa or Boumerdès.
This tragedy, however, spawned a chain of solidarity in Algeria and beyond, since two French water bombers intervened in Kabylia on Thursday. Three more should arrive this Friday from Spain and Switzerland, according to Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. A real “relief for the population”, report witnesses.
At the moment, there are 71 people who have perished since Monday in the flames, which have grown due to the strong heat. However, the country’s authorities have not hesitated to denounce in their report that these fires are “of criminal origin.” The population in shock has not yet identified the charred bodies.
So far, experts have only managed to “identify 19 of the 25 bodies in Larbaa Nath Irathen,” said the vice president of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights, Saïd Salhi. “The families are looking for their own, it adds pain to the pain,” he adds. And according to another witness, the toll should increase “since there are also missing persons.”