Tunisia records 155 wildfires within 36 hours

Tunisia has recorded the outbreak of 155 fires since Monday due to high temperatures.

The Tunisian Civil Defence said in a statement yesterday that 12 wildfires broke out in the forests. No human casualties were recorded.

The statement confirmed that “all fires are under control, except for six wildfires that are still active in the governorates of Bizerte, Jendouba and El Kef.”

According to reports, wildfires in the states of Bizerte and Jendouba, in northern Tunisia, have destroyed about 450 hectares of the country’s pine and acacia forests.

The director of the civil protection department in Bizerte province, Brigadier Kamal El-Meliti, said nine fires have broken out in less than 24 hours in the Nadhour town forest which destroyed about 50 hectares of land. Firefighting operations are continuing, he added.

Meanwhile, fires were also reported in Ain Drahem in Jendouba province, amid reports that around 300 hectares of forest had been destroyed.

Earlier this week the country’s National Meteorological Institute said Tunisia is experiencing the worst heat wave the country has seen since 1999.

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