26 Dead From Forest Fires in Algeria

At least 26 people have died and dozens more have been injured by forest fires that have destroyed northern Algeria.

Kamel Beldjoud, the country's interior minister, said 24 people died at El Tarf, near the border with Tunisia, among them a mother and daughter in Stif.

Firefighters, backed by helicopters, were trying to contain some flames Wednesday evening.

Reports say about 350 residents have been evacuated to various provinces.

The civil protection agency said El Tarf was the hardest hit area with 16 fires under way.

The name of the 58-year-old mother and her 36-year-old daughter who died in Stif has not yet been disclosed, but officials there said the flames had reached dozens of houses and villages.

Northern Algeria is affected by forest fires every year, with 90 people thought to have died in them last year and more than 100,000 hectares of forest were burned.

Last August, Beldjoud blamed a wave of fires in Algeria's Kabyle region for arson, claiming that “alone criminal hands” can explain the simultaneous destruction of about 50 fires in some localities”.

Wednesday's figures bring the total number of Algerians dead from fires this summer to 30.