Wildfires raging in the forests of eastern Algeria have killed 26 people, the Associated Press quoted a provisional report by the north African country's interior minister. Most victims were reported in the wilaya, or region, of El Tarf, near the northern Algerian-Tunisian border, where 24 people have been found dead, including eight of them on a public bus surprised by the flames as it was driving in a mountainous region. Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud also said on public television late Wednesday that two people died in the region of Setif, about 300 kilometers (185 miles) east of Algiers. He noted that on Wednesday only, 39 fires have started in 14 regions, including 16 in El Tarf and that 3,200 hectares (over 12 square miles) of forests and brush have been ravaged by blazes since the beginning of August.
