The blaze broke out in a dormitory at a state-run child care facility in the country’s capital, officials have said
At least 11 people, including children, have been killed and 19 others injured in a fire at an orphanage in the Algerian capital, the North African nation’s authorities said on Thursday.
The blaze broke out before dawn in a dormitory at a state-run child care facility in Mohammadia, an eastern district of Algiers. Ten of the injured suffered burns of varying severity, two experienced breathing difficulties, and seven were treated for “psychological shock,” the Algerian Civil Protection authority wrote on Facebook.
The organization said five others with special needs were evacuated to safety, while firefighters were still working to extinguish the fire.
Prime Minister Sifi Ghrieb visited victims receiving treatment at the Zeralda hospital for severe burns and Mustapha Pacha University Hospital in Algiers.
Speaking on behalf of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Ghrieb offered condolences to the victims’ families and said the state stood in full solidarity with those affected, according to an official statement.
He also ordered the authorities to provide comprehensive medical and psychological care for the injured and support for the bereaved families.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
Algeria has previously experienced fatal fires at institutions housing vulnerable people. In September 2019, eight babies were killed when a blaze swept through the maternity ward of a hospital in the eastern city of El Oued. Emergency services rescued 11 other babies, more than 100 women, and 28 hospital workers.
The orphanage blaze comes as Algeria battles a wave of wildfires across several provinces. On Thursday, the Civil Protection service said its crews had responded to 115 forest, scrubland, agricultural, and palm-grove fires over the previous 24 hours. It said 89 had been fully extinguished, 14 were under guard after being suppressed, and 14 remained active, with firefighting aircraft, regional detachments, and mobile units deployed to several affected areas. No casualties were reported in the update.
Wildfires are a recurring summer hazard across northern and eastern Algeria, where extreme heat, dry vegetation, and strong winds can cause flames to spread rapidly. The World Bank has described forest fires as an increasingly frequent threat to the country and linked the growing risk to climate change.
