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Wildfires that broke out across 10 provinces in eastern Algeria over the past 24 hours have killed 12 people and injured 54, with 64 of the 174 fires still burning as of Friday, according to Algeria's General Directorate of Civil Protection.
The directorate said it has extinguished 110 of the fires. The blazes are concentrated in Jijel province, on Algeria's Mediterranean coast roughly 300 kilometers east of Algiers, where 20 fires remain active.
Fourteen are burning in Skikda, 10 in El Tarf, six in Guelma, five in Annaba, four in Béjaïa and two in Bouira, with one each continuing in Tebessa, Constantine and Mila.
Firefighting crews are receiving air support from military BE-200 aircraft, AT-802 planes and Mi-26 helicopters as operations continue.
Algerian Interior Minister Said Sayoud said the fires, which began Wednesday, have killed five people in Jijel, four in Bejaia and three in Tizi Ouzou. He said 54 people have been injured by burns, six of them critically.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune ordered flags flown at half-mast and declared three days of national mourning for the victims.
International outlets reported active-fire counts fluctuating through Aug. 27–28 as Civil Protection issued updated snapshots throughout each day, consistent with the ongoing and shifting nature of the response.
The death toll of 12 has been consistently confirmed across multiple outlets as of Friday; an unconfirmed report from a single, uncorroborated source has claimed a higher toll, but this has not been verified by other outlets and is not included above.
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