ALGIERS (Reuters) -The death toll as wildfires sweep across regions of Algeria has risen to 34 people including 10 soldiers on Monday, the interior ministry said, as a heatwave spreads across north Africa and southern Europe. The interior ministry said that it is continuing its firefighting operations in the Boumerdes, Bouira, Tizi Ouzou, Jijel, Bejaia and Skikda regions. A major heatwave is sweeping across North Africa, with temperatures of 49 Celsius (120 Fahrenheit) recorded in some cities in neighbouring Tunisia. A civil protection official said that they had evacuated hundreds of the town's residents by land and by sea, in fishermen's boats and coastguard vessels. (Reporting by Lamine Chikhi, Jana Choukeir, and Nayera Abdalla; Writing by Tarek Amara; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Nick Macfie and Hugh Lawson)

Source: The North Africa Journal July 24, 2023 16:21 UTC