At least 12 people have been killed and 54 injured as wildfires sweep through northeastern Algeria, according to Interior Minister Said Sayoud — more than 150 fires spread in a single day across several of the country’s provinces, according to reports.

Wildfires Ravage Multiple Provinces

Civil protection authorities said dozens of blazes swept through several provinces along the country’s northern coastline; Five people were killed in Jijel province, four in Bejaia, and three in Tizi Ouzou, Sayoud said on Wednesday night. Many homes in Bejaia and Jijel have been evacuated, according to the civil protection agency and local media.

Interior Minister Sayoud has travelled to Bejaia with the Algerian Health Minister Mohamed Seddik Ait Messaoudene to assess local firefighting and evacuation efforts, government officials said. Firefighters were battling 69 blazes across the country earlier on Wednesday evening, the civil protection agency reported.

Footage shared by local broadcaster Jijel News showed residents taking refuge in a post office as thick clouds of smoke billowed around them, the Bejaia region saw devastating fires tear through forest and farmland three years ago when 30 people were killed.

Heatwave Intensifies Wildfire Risk

The deaths come as northern Africa swelters under a severe heatwave, with Tunisia and Algeria particularly affected, Last month, authorities recorded at least six deaths caused by fires, with crews battling more than 2,000 blazes across Algeria in July alone.

While Algeria regularly experiences forest fires around the summer months, climate change has exacerbated the intensity and severity of recent wildfires in the country. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said extreme heat has become common in North Africa, a region that has seen the most rapid warming of the six subregions of Africa, 0.43C per decade – between 1991 and 2025.

Rising heat and water shortages have also led to an increase in camel deaths during summer heatwaves in Algeria, a recent study revealed, the WMO report highlights how the warming trend has increased the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events across the region.

Separate Incident in Northern France

At least one person has been killed and 10 injured after a car crashed into a group of people near a train station in northern France, police said. A male suspect was later arrested after authorities launched a major emergency response in Caen, in the Normandy region.

Local prefect David Claviere said seven of those injured were in a critical condition and three more had minor injuries, according to AFP, and the incident took place near a bar, with local media reporting that a fight had broken out there before the incident occurred.

“For the moment, we are not dealing with a terrorist motive, but the investigation is only just beginning,” said Bruno Coutanceau, a top security official for Caen. All of the victims appeared to be men between the ages of 17 and 40, he told AFP.

Claviere said that the car “deliberately drove into pedestrians in the street opposite the train station.” The suspect, a 26-year-old man born in Russia, was later arrested around 20km (12 miles) away in the port town of Ouistreham. He was not previously known to intelligence services and police had been aware of him “only for traffic offences,” Claviere said.

Social media videos from the scene appeared to show crowds gathering around police cars and ambulances, where a large area was cordoned off. A spokesperson for the local administration of Calvados told the BBC that some of those injured were receiving treatment in the emergency ward of a nearby hospital.

Police have opened an investigation into the incident, which will be led by detectives from Caen’s Specialised Crime Division. Locals have been told to avoid the area around the Caen train station.