Disasters & Incidents
Algeria wildfires: national mourning declared for 12 dead
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared three days of national mourning on Thursday after wildfires in the country's northeast killed at least 12 people and injured dozens.
Authorities had not revised the death toll announced Wednesday by Interior Minister Said Sayoud. Sayoud said five people died in Jijel province, four in Bejaia and three in Tizi Ouzou. He said 54 people were being treated in hospital for burns, including six in serious condition.
Algeria's civil protection agency said Thursday morning that 46 fires were still burning after 193 were recorded over the previous 24 hours. It had said Wednesday evening that firefighters were battling 69 blazes.
The gendarmerie said three major roads linking eastern regions were closed because of forest fires near Bejaia, Jijel and Setif. Many residents in Bejaia and Jijel had been evacuated, according to the civil protection agency and local media, though no overall evacuation figure was given.
Tebboune called the deaths "a great tragedy" in a statement. Forest fires occur regularly in northern Algeria during the summer. More than 30 people were killed in July 2023 when fires burned through forests, farmland and homes around Bejaia, and authorities recorded nearly 2,000 fires nationwide in July this year.
Update
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared three days of national mourning after the wildfire deaths.
Algerian civil protection said Thursday morning that 46 fires were still burning out of 193 recorded over the previous 24 hours.
Authorities had not updated the Wednesday death toll of 12 people.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 12:52:01 UTC.
Update
Interior Minister Said Sayoud said 54 people were being treated for burns at a hospital in Bejaia, including six serious cases.
The gendarmerie said three major national highways linking eastern regions were closed because of forest fires near Bejaia, Jijel and Setif.
The civil protection agency said strong winds were fuelling the blazes.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 00:31:53 UTC.
Update
Interior Minister Said Sayoud said five deaths were recorded in Jijel, four in Bejaia and three in Tizi Ouzou.
Source note: AFP news report published on 26 August 2026 at 22:59:37 UTC.
Update
Officials said the death toll from the Algeria wildfires had risen to 12.
Source note: AFP news report published on 26 August 2026 at 22:48:19 UTC.
Update
Two people were reported killed near Bejaia: an eight-year-old boy and a 22-year-old woman.
Several others were injured.
Interior Minister Said Sayoud and Health Minister Mohamed Seddik Ait Messaoudene travelled to Bejaia.
At 8:00 pm, the civil protection rescue service said firefighters were battling 69 blazes nationwide, including 18 in Bejaia and seven in Jijel.
Evacuations were reported in several provinces, including Bejaia and Jijel.
Source note: AFP news report published on 26 August 2026 at 22:35:56 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
Authorities had not updated the death toll beyond the 12 deaths announced on Wednesday.
No total evacuation figure was supplied.
AFP said it could not immediately verify the online videos.
Source
AFP news report published on .