World

'Overwhelming': orphanage fire in Algeria kills 11

By AAP Newswire

Jul 16, 2026

Police stand guard after a fire at an orphanage in Algiers, Algeria — Emergency crews raced to an orphanage after a fire broke out in Algiers. -EPA

Eleven people, including children, have been killed ‌and 19 more injured in a fire at an orphanage close to ‌the Algerian capital Algiers.

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Locals and emergency crews ‌rushed to the building in the Mohammadia district of the province of Algiers, where blackened masonry was visible above two window openings behind the exterior gates.

Ten of the injured suffered burns of varying ‌severity, and emergency crews ‌evacuated ⁠five people with disabilities from the orphanage to safety, the civil protection agency said on Thursday.

It gave no details about the victims or their ages or the possible cause of the fire.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune expressed his condolences in a social media post, saying ⁠he had received news "of the ‌deaths of children and the injuries of others following a fire that broke out ‌at a children's care facility".

Elias Gabrini, 58, a resident in the Mohammadia neighbourhood near the orphanage who witnessed the fire, told Reuters residents rushed from their homes after hearing about the blaze.

"It's truly overwhelming. Seeing this with your own eyes is not ‌easy," he said.

Algeria has been gripped by a heatwave in recent days, with civil protection units extinguishing 913 fires nationwide since July 8, state news agency APS reported on Wednesday, citing the General Directorate of Civil Protection.