ALGIERS, Algeria — Eleven children lost their lives and 19 others were hurt when a fire swept through an orphanage near the Algerian capital in the early morning hours Thursday, according to officials.
Algeria’s Civil Protection agency reported that the blaze ignited at approximately 3:30 a.m. at a two-story childcare institution located in Mohammedia, a community in the eastern outskirts of the capital city of Algiers.
Authorities have not released information about the ages of the children who died or were injured. No adult fatalities or injuries were reported.
Rescue crews successfully evacuated five children with limited mobility from the building. A number of the injured children were taken to a hospital that specializes in burn treatment, according to Lt. Col. Nassim Bernaoui, the head of communications for the Civil Protection agency.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who was on an official state visit to Berlin at the time, offered his condolences following the tragedy.
“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,” the president said.
The deadly fire happened to fall on Algeria’s National Children’s Day. It also occurred during an intense heat wave that has triggered close to 1,000 fires throughout the country over the past week, the Civil Protection agency said.
