Death toll from Algeria's wildfires rises to 65
At least 25 soldiers died trying to extinguish the fires in Algeria’s Kabylia region.
The death toll from the wildfires raging across Algeria has risen to 65, the government said on Wednesday, as blazes fueled by high temperatures and strong winds burned across the North African country for the third day.
The casualties include 25 soldiers who were working to contain the fires. Many other soldiers have serious burns, the Defense Ministry said, including 12 who are hospitalized in critical condition.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced a three-day national mourning period. On Tuesday night, he tweeted his condolences, adding that the fallen soldiers had successfully rescued more than 100 citizens from the mountains of Bejaia and Tizi Ouzou in Algeria’s Kabylia region.
“We bow in reverence before the souls of the righteous sons of the nation,” Tebboune wrote on Twitter.
