Saudi Arabia offers condolences to Algeria over victims of wildfires

Riyadh, The Gulf Observer: Saudi Arabia offered condolences to Algeria over victims of wildfires that killed over 30 people and forced mass evacuations.

The Kingdom shared its sympathy through a foreign ministry statement issued early on Tuesday, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

As temperatures hit 48 degrees Celsius (118 Fahrenheit) in parts of the North African country, it recorded 97 blazes across 16 provinces, fanned by strong winds, said Algerian interior ministry.

10 soldiers were among those killed, as wildfires raged through residential areas.

Some 1,500 people were evacuated from the Bejaia, Bouira and Jijel provinces east of the capital Algiers, according to the ministry.

The three provinces in Algeria’s Mediterranean coastal region have seen the worst of the fires.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Monday expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased.

The interior ministry said that 7,500 firefighters and 350 firetrucks were mobilized with aerial support to fight the flames.