34 killed, many evacuated from Algeria wide fire

The death toll due to wildfires in Algeria has reached 34 people amid a heat wave roiling North African countries.

The Interior Ministry said 24 civilians and 10 soldiers were killed due to the fires.

Some 8,000 members of the civil defence were deployed to help people and put out the fires, which broke out on Sunday night.

Wind led the spread of the fires  to residential areas, with 1,500 people already evacuated.

The authorities are still evacuating people who live near forest areas, the ministry said in a statement late Monday.

In neighbouring Tunisia, fires also broke out this week in the western forest areas near the border with Algeria, amid record temperatures recorded in some parts of the country. (dpa/NAN)