At least 26 people have died in forest fires in northern Algeria. Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud said on the TV news on Wednesday evening that 24 people had died in Al Tarf province in the north-east of the country.
There were two more fatalities in the province of Sétif, also in the north-east. Dozens of people were injured in the fires from flames or smoke.
According to the Algerian civil defense, a total of 39 fires are currently raging in 14 provinces of the country, 16 of them in Al Tarf alone. The town of Sou Ahras near the border with Tunisia is also affected. Television pictures showed how residents there had to leave their homes to flee the flames.