Fires in Algeria: the municipalities of Kabylia scramble to rescue the wounded and disaster victims
Collection of food and essential goods, here around Algiers, August 12, 2021. REUTERS - ABDELAZIZ BOUMZAR
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In the mountains of Kabylia, the region most affected by the fires, many villages are still isolated by the flames.
The situation there is still critical but the populations are organizing themselves as best they can.
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The villages located on the heights of the town of Ait Oumalou have almost all been evacuated since the start of the fires on Monday, August 9.
The mayor, Sofiane Mohktari, has organized himself to be able to welcome the hundreds of affected families in the spared areas.
"
I opened all the schools in the town, the psycho-pedagogical center, the treatment room where we have installed teams that organize help and assistance for those affected in the neighboring town
," he explains. he.
A few kilometers away, in the provincial capital of Tizi Ouzou, hospitals had to receive several hundred wounded very quickly.
To ensure that everyone receives care on time, some private hospitals have opened their doors free of charge to deal with burn victims.
This is the case of Chahib Mamoudi hospital.
"
There were still a certain number of our fellow citizens who were caught in the fires and they required treatment,"
says the director of the structure, Mohammed Triki.
So even though we are a private hospital, we made ourselves available to these fire victims.
We received them, treated them, hospitalized for those who needed to be.
"
In the
wilaya
of Tizi Ouzou, at least 37 fires were recorded this Thursday, August 12 by civil protection, Algerian firefighters.
Prime Minister Aimene Benabderamane, who was in Tizi Ouzou this Thursday, announced the creation of a special disaster compensation fund.
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See also:
Algeria: faced with the forest fires ravaging Kabylia, the population is mobilizing
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More frequent and more intense fires, more fragile forests
These fires consume several wooded regions, as far as Annaba near the border with Tunisia. While fires in the Mediterranean basin are not unusual occurrences, there is cause for concern. Can we speak of a natural phenomenon for these fires? The lighting of the Algerian ecologist Karim Tedjani, founder of the Nouara Algeria website dedicated to environmental issues.
These fires, to a certain extent, can be part of a most natural cycle which in the long term is really beneficial for the ecology of ecosystems, in particular because they are regulators, revitalizing for biodiversity and then because that they participate in aerating these naturally very dense forests. The problem is that today, the frequency of these fires is more and more regular, recurring and that their intensity and therefore their impact is increasing. Whatever the origin, natural or criminal, the root of the problem is that these forests have been made more and more fragile, less and less resilient, in particular because of the very nature of Algerian development. So the responsibilities are as much political as civil. Today,it is not only the forests which are threatened, but all the Algerian vegetation cover which is in danger.
Karim tedjani
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