At least 30 people were dead following a series of forest fires in Algeria, the country’s civil defense service announced on Thursday.
An additional 161 people were injured — 21 of them critically — according to the civil defense service.
What have officials said about the blazes?
Algerian Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud told state television that authorities have registered at least 106 wildfires in numerous provinces in the east since early August. Beldjoud said unknown persons had started some of the blazes.
Prime Minister Ayman Benabderrahamne was in El Tarf Thursday, near the Tunisian border, Algerian media reported. He inspected damage and ordered the mobilization of all state resources to control the blazes.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune conveyed solidarity with the victims in a message of condolences for the victims of the fires.
