A fire at an orphanage near Algiers killed 11 children and injured 19 early Thursday, according to Algeria’s Civil Protection agency. The blaze broke out around 3:30 a.m. local time at the two-story institution in Mohammedia, a suburb east of the capital.
Authorities have not released the ages of the children who died. No adult fatalities or injuries were reported. Rescue teams evacuated five children with reduced mobility. Several of the injured children were taken to a hospital specializing in burns, said Lt. Col. Nassim Bernaoui, the Civil Protection head of communications.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune expressed his condolences from Berlin, where he is on an official visit. "It is with a heart resigned to the will of Allah that I learned of the death of children and the injuries suffered by other children of Algeria following the fire that broke out in a childcare institution," he said.
The fire occurred on Algeria’s National Children’s Day amid a severe heat wave. The Civil Protection agency reported that nearly 1,000 fires have ignited across the country in the past week.