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Algeria’s civil protection department reported that 11 people died in a fire that broke out around 3 a.m. at the Fondation de l’enfance assistée in Algiers’ Mohammadia suburb. The department said 19 others sustained injuries in the blaze though it provided no details on the ages of those affected or the precise cause. Firefighters remained on site into the morning as they worked to fully extinguish the flames.
According to the civil protection department’s communiqué five individuals with special needs were taken into care and transported to a safe location during the emergency. The department did not immediately release further information on the condition of the injured or the circumstances that led to the outbreak. Operations to secure the site were still underway several hours after the initial alert.
Le Progrès reported that Prime Minister Sifi Ghrieb visited injured survivors at Zeralda and Mustapha Bacha hospitals following the tragedy. The visit underscores the level of official attention to the welfare of those impacted by the fire at the foster care facility. Hospital officials have not yet issued public updates on the patients’ statuses.
The incident occurs during an exceptional heatwave that has triggered nearly 1,000 fires across Algeria in the past week a Le Progrès assessment found. Earlier in July the civil protection department detailed responses to 127 vegetation and agricultural blazes in a single 24-hour period according to a Xinhua dispatch. Such conditions have heightened risks for facilities throughout the North African nation.
Similar fatal fires have struck Algerian institutions in previous years. In 2019 eight babies lost their lives in a blaze at a maternity hospital in Oued Souf TF1 Info reported at the time. That event along with deadly forest fires that claimed dozens of lives in 2022 and 2023 has repeatedly drawn attention to fire safety protocols in public buildings.
Algerian authorities have not yet disclosed any preliminary findings into the orphanage fire’s origins. The civil protection department continues to manage both this incident and the broader wave of heat-related emergencies. Updates on any investigation are expected in the coming days as officials assess the damaged site.
