Algeria: Massive wildfires erupt in Tizi Ouzou province

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Large-scale wildfires broke out in Tizi Ouzou province, east of the country’s capital, Algiers, as seen on Tuesday.

The fires engulfed both forests and residential areas, while firefighters were battling the blazes with water cannons. Some local volunteers assisted them in tackling the fire.

A resident of the area said, “The fires reached the houses in the neighbourhood there. The firefighters could not do anything, they did everything they could, but they could not put out the fire alone. There is no olive (trees) left in the Kabylia region, which is known for its olives.”

Another local added, “I am 56 years old, and I have never seen fires like this in my life. How did it catch on? I went to all the forests in the area, and none of them was spared. How is it possible for more than 29 fires to erupt in one day?”

Authorities reported that the number of deaths caused by wildfires in the province of Tizi Ouzou has increased to 12 since Monday, with six new deaths recorded on Tuesday.

An Algerian news agency quoted the Director-General of Forests, Ali Mahmoudi, on Tuesday, saying that 103 fires had occurred across 17 provinces in the country.

The Ministry of Interior accused ‘criminal hands’ of setting fires that led to great losses in forests and cultivated areas, as well as causing human losses upon their arrival to residential areas.

TRANSLATIONS:

SOT, Resident (Arabic): “As you can see, the Kabylia region here was completely burned, there are no authorities, they did not show up until the last moment, all the Kabylia region was completely burnt, here, on the same day, dozens of fires were ignited in several areas, we trust in God against them (authorities), this is what I can say.”

SOT, Resident (Arabic): “The fires reached the houses in the neighbourhood there. The firefighters could not do anything, they did everything they could, but they could not put out the fire alone. There is no olive (trees) left in the Kabylia region, which is known for its olives.”

SOT, Resident (Arabic): “I am 56 years old, and I have never seen fires like this in my life. How did it catch on? I went to all the forests in the area, and none of them was spared. How is it possible for more than 29 fires to erupt in one day?”

SOT, Resident (Arabic): “We in Kabylia region live from these olive trees, we wait for the harvest from year to year, from season to season, we live from these olives and we have nothing else. As you can see, this is a mountainous area and there are only olive trees in it. It is our living that we wait for every season, now there are no more olives, the olives were burnt and everything has gone with them.”

#Algeria #Wildfires #TiziOuzou

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