Algiers, Aug 19 (AFP/APP): Wildfires which killed at least 38 people across northern Algeria have been largely contained, firefighters said Friday, but new blazes forced further evacuations and the closure of some roads near the Tunisian border.
Fierce fires have become an annual fixture in Algeria’s parched forests where climate change is exacerbating a long-running drought.
Since the beginning of August, more than 200 blazes have devastated hundreds of hectares (acres).
Fire service spokesman Colonel Farouk Achour said Friday morning that all the fires had been “completely brought under control”, but the service later tweeted that seven fires were burning in the far northeastern regions of El Tarf and Skikda.
State television showed images of an army firefighting aircraft over El Tarf, and the police said several highways in the area had been closed.
Images on social media showed people evacuating homes near a forest blaze in the El Kala area, which had seen devastating fires on Thursday.
El Tarf residents were counting their losses, including the charred remains of farm animals burned alive as flames swept through the area.
The fire “didn’t spare anything”, said one farmer, Hamdi Gemidi, 40, who walked in rubber sandals on the ash-covered earth where the carcasses of what appeared to be sheep lay.
“This is our livelihood… We have nowhere to go and nothing to make a living from.”
Ghazala, 81, said she had been rescued along with a few animals after flames came dangerously close to her house.
“I don’t know where to go now. Should I stay in the fields, forests or mountains?” she asked, on the verge of tears.
“I really don’t know where I should go.”
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