Forestry Manager of the province of Tizi Ouzou said that the fires that broke out on Monday in the region were ” a criminal act.”
Youcef Ould Mohamed indicated, in a statement to the program “Algiers live” broadcast on the Algerian TV, that “the simultaneous outbreak of 30 fires, 10 of which are wildfires, at a time when a special bulletin was broadcast warning of a high heat wave, cannot be due to natural causes.”
“It is impossible, based on our experience, that the causes of these fires are natural,” , “they are arsons resulting from a criminal act.”, he stressed.
It should be noted that a crisis cell has been set up at the level of the province’s secretariat.
The interventions of Civil Protection elements and forestry workers in the province of Tizi Ouzou continued on Monday night with the assistance of National People’s Army, National Gendarmerie and a number of citizens supported by human and material means from other provinces (Algiers, Bouira, Boumerdes, Medea, Bordj Bou Arreridj) in order to save human lives as a top priority.
Villages in several areas of Ait Yenni and Larbaa Nat Yrathen were engulfed in flames, forcing families to leave their homes, and creating an atmosphere of panic.
Various corps intervening in the field were charged with evacuating those families, while a spontaneous solidarity action was noticed, as many people expressed their willingness to put apartments at the disposal of the families whose houses were burned down.
Other institutions such as concert halls and youth institutions have also been prepared to receive them, according to the associations and parties behind these initiatives.
A provisional toll of the Forestry department indicated that four people were killed and three others were injured, in addition to an extensive material damage and significant losses in vegetation cover, animals and fruit trees, especially olive trees.
