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Algeria: five minutes to understand why the fires are so deadly in the country

2022-08-19T16:12:04.583Z


Thirty-eight people have died since Wednesday in Algeria, where 2,600 hectares have been ravaged by flames. Last summer, the fires


The carcass of a bus charred by the flames lies on the road, in a setting that is nothing more than ashes.

Inside, a dozen people trapped died last Wednesday in Souk Arhas, a town in northeastern Algeria, 60 km from the Tunisian border.

Since the start of these fires, at least 38 people have died, including 11 children, and more than 200 have been injured.

Collections of clothes, medicines and food have started for the benefit of the victims.

But why is the human toll so dramatic in Algeria?

Twenty fires in two days

Twenty-four forest fires broke out in Algeria in 48 hours and their images are impressive.

A total of 1,700 firefighters and 280 fire-fighting vehicles were mobilized to put out 118 homes across the country.

“All the fires are completely under control”, assures this Friday the colonel of the fire brigade, Farouk Achour, member of the Algerian Civil Protection.

But the damage is considerable.

Souk-Ahras:



The flames are getting closer to homes, Rebi yeltef 🤲🏻 pic.twitter.com/zHknllZDma

— Mehdi Djerbou (@Mehdidjr) August 17, 2022

In addition to the heavy human toll, at least 350 people had to flee their homes on Wednesday and a hospital was evacuated.

The zoo of El Kala (north-east of the country) was devastated, witnesses evoke “a tornado of fire” on the spot, and a worker of the animal park perished in the flames while trying to evacuate animals.

Drought and temperatures up to 48°C

While forest fires are not uncommon in the north of the country each summer, their scale this year is beyond the authorities.

Global warming is not sparing Algeria, after a summer of 2021 already marked by a very severe drought.

Temperatures reached up to 48°C in affected towns.

In these circumstances, Prime Minister Aymen Benabderrahmane acknowledged that it "was very difficult to fight these fires", in particular because of the gusts of wind up to 90 km / h which accompany the high temperatures.

The criminal trail is not ruled out for certain fire starts.

The Ministry of Justice has opened an investigation to determine more precisely the causes of the fires.

The Souk Ahras prosecutor's office announced the arrest of an arsonist in a forest, and the El-Tarf gendarmes arrested three people suspected of having "deliberately set fire to agricultural land".

106 fires have been identified in the country since the beginning of August.

They ravaged nearly 2,600 ha, according to the Ministry of the Interior.

Already, last year, Algeria had faced violent fires which had caused a record number of 90 victims and burned 100,000 ha.

Residents on their own

Many Algerians in the disaster areas blame the lack of help from the authorities for evacuations.

“No one came to our aid, neither the fire brigade nor anyone else.

It was the employees who tried to get people out of the park which was surrounded by flames, ”says Takyeddine, 22, and employee of the El Kala animal park.

VIDEO.

Algeria: 38 dead in violent fires that ravage the country

"Algeria has no clear policy for safeguarding and developing its forests", further denounces the TSA website, according to which "Civil Protection is not equipped" to deal with events.

Experts have also criticized shortcomings in the system put in place by the government.

This plan has been widely reviewed after the fires of last year, but is still not unanimous: the lack of water bomber planes and the poor maintenance of forests are particularly singled out.

Criticisms swept away by the Prime Minister: “The fire-fighting device was activated last May.

It's a first.

In El Tarf, there are 24 fires starting at the same time, in addition to the violent winds”, justified Aymen Benabderrahmane, quoted by TSA, after being arrested by a citizen during his visit on the spot.

The only water bomber plane breaks down

The authorities have mobilized several water bomber helicopters to fight the fires, as well as a Russian Beriev BE 200 plane. But it broke down and will not be operational until Saturday, admitted the Minister of the Interior , Kamel Beldjoud.

Army helicopters had to be sent as reinforcements, especially in hard-to-reach areas, reports the Algérie Presse Service agency.

This thin air fleet can be explained in particular by a diplomatic quarrel which put the country in difficulty: Algiers was to conclude a contract providing for the chartering of seven water bomber planes from Spain, but it was canceled after Madrid reviewed its position on the Western Sahara issue.

Read alsoWestern Sahara: Madrid and Rabat seal a “historic” reconciliation after their estrangement

Spain has reconciled with Morocco on this issue, supporting the idea of ​​autonomy for the disputed territory.

Algeria, a longtime supporter of the Polisario Front, which campaigns for the independence of Western Sahara, has seen red: all commercial relations with Spain have been suspended, with the exception of gas.

After the fires of recent days, the Algerian Prime Minister assured that four water bombers had been ordered, but the first of them will not be delivered until December, without the supplier country being known.

Source: leparis

All tech articles on 2022-08-19

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