Incendies en Algérie : un bilan contesté

Algerian authorities faced mounting pressure as mass graves were dug in the wake of wildfires that devastated parts of the country’s northern-eastern region. The grim scenes unfolded in Djemaa Beni Habibi, a small town near Jijel, where residents documented the burial of dozens of victims on August 28. A video shared widely on TikTok showed a loader digging a rectangular pit under the watchful eyes of around twenty men. In Arabic, one man commented: “Every time they bring back 30, 40 bodies. There are many missing people, families searching for their parents, children, who have yet to find them. El Ancer, Texenna, El Milia, the area of Jijel has almost been entirely affected.” The footage captured a young resident of Jijel documenting the excavation of a makeshift communal grave within the cemetery of Djemaa Beni Habibi. The town lies approximately 30 kilometers east of Jijel, which itself is both a city and a wilaya, a regional administrative division, situated along Algeria’s north-east coast. These areas became epicenters of a wildfire outbreak that began on August 26, later dubbed “Black Wednesday” by locals and some officials. According to data from the U.S. space agency’s FIRMS system, which tracks active fires and temperature anomalies in real-time, the peripheries of Texenna, El Ancer, and El Milia were engulfed by flames between August 26 and 27. The creator of the video, a local youth, had shifted his content focus from sports and fitness to documenting the disaster since its onset. He described the ongoing excavation as taking place in Djemaa Beni Habibi, a location heavily impacted by the fires. This detail allowed viewers to identify the specific cemetery where the footage was recorded. The scene depicted a communal grave being prepared, with the loader still working late into the night. The following day, additional videos uploaded by residents offered partial insight into the human toll of the fires. Multiple individuals from the region attended a collective funeral held on August 28 in Djemaa Beni Habibi and recorded the event for social media. One clip showed at least 13 coffins present in the pit at once. Another video, taken after part of the grave had been filled, revealed more than 20 individual graves marked by simple mounds of earth topped with bottles of water or sticks. The loader continued its work, covering at least three more bodies, while much of the pit remained empty, suggesting it could accommodate more victims. In another video, the partially filled grave highlighted the number of individual burials already made, with markers such as bottles and sticks indicating each plot. The footage suggested that more than 20 bodies had been interred, with several remaining to be buried and a significant portion of the pit still open. The video’s description claimed that the death toll exceeded 140, including members of the filmer’s family. Meanwhile, government officials appeared reluctant to provide official figures, despite the visible scale of the tragedy. A mass funeral took place in the presence of the Prime Minister, though no formal casualty count was released. As the situation worsened, local communities turned to social media to share their experiences, often bypassing traditional channels of communication. The lack of transparency raised concerns among residents, who felt the administration was prioritizing blame over action. With the fires continuing to spread and recovery efforts underway, the focus remains on identifying the causes of the disaster and addressing the urgent needs of those affected.