An Algerian prosecutor has ordered an investigation into the death of a man lynched by a mob after being accused of setting fire to the region, Algeria’s official APS news agency said.
Forest fires in Algeria have killed at least 71 people since Monday, according to the latest official toll.
The lynching took place in Larbaa Nath Irathen, in the Tizi Ouzou district, one of the worst affected by the fires. The victim was identified as 38-year-old Djamel Ben Ismail.
The local prosecutor issued a statement from APS on Thursday “following videos on Wednesday on social media showing the killing of a citizen [burned to death and lynched]”.
He ordered an investigation into the case in order to identify the assailants and send them to trial “so that the heinous crime will not go unpunished”.
The statement said a mob violently attacked the police station where the victim was under police protection and managed to remove him. They “dragged him outside, beat and burned him, which led to his death.”
“Police who intervened to protect and help the victim have also been injured,” the statement said.
Amnesty International called on Algerian authorities to immediately investigate the death and “send a clear message that the violence will not go unpunished”.
Ben Ismail was buried late Thursday night in his hometown of Khemis Miliana, 115 km west of Algiers.
“Do you realize they tortured him to death?” Mohamed Khalfi, Ben Ismail’s uncle, told the Associated Press. “And what hurts me is that the people filmed … I am his uncle and I pray that justice does its job and that even those who watched without doing anything will be judged.”
One of Ben Ismail’s friends, Rafik, who did not give his last name, said he was “an artist, a young man who loves guitar and loves life … not a violent man”.
Progress made with fires
Firefighters made progress on Friday against forest fires that have raged across northern Algeria for several days, while the North African country observed a second day of national mourning for those killed in the fires, with prayers being held at mosques after weekly Friday services.
Firefighters backed by army engineers and civilian volunteers were still battling 51 forest fires in 16 provinces, according to the rescue service, but only three in the worst-hit province, Tizi Ouzou.
Blisters still burned in some areas, including Bejaia, another province in the predominantly Berber Kabylie region that stretches along the Mediterranean coast east of the capital Algiers and El Taref, a sparsely populated province bordering Tunisia.
Seasonal forest fires are nothing new in Algeria, but this time high winds drove the rapid spread of flames during lukewarm drought created by a heat wave over North Africa and the wider Mediterranean.
Meteorologists estimate that the regional heat wave will continue until the end of the week, after the temperature in Algeria reaches 50C (122F).
France and other countries have offered support, including firefighting aircraft.
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP)
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