Forest fires affected several towns in northern Algeria on Wednesday, August 17, according to civil protection, which reported several injuries in the town of Souk Ahras, bordering Tunisia, where the fires reached the town.
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Twenty-six fires in nine wilayas (prefectures) are in progress
", indicated the civil protection by specifying that four fires are in progress in Souk Ahras where four people were burned to various degrees and 38 others suffer from breathing difficulties.
Water bomber helicopters intervened in three prefectures including Souk Ahras.
Images of the fires were broadcast by local television.
Accentuated phenomenon
Since the beginning of the summer, numerous fires have broken out in Algeria, killing four people so far.
The largest country in Africa, Algeria has only 4.1 million hectares of forest, with a meager reforestation rate of 1.76%.
Each year, the north of the country is affected by forest fires, but this phenomenon is accentuated from year to year under the effect also of climate change.
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The summer of 2021 has been the deadliest.
At least 90 people died in forest fires that ravaged the north of the country where more than 100,000 hectares of copses went up in smoke.
Climate warming increases the likelihood of heat waves and droughts and, by extension, fires.