Forest fires in northeastern Algeria have killed 12 people and injured dozens, Interior Minister Said Sayoud said on Wednesday. The deaths occurred in the provinces of Jijel (five), Bejaia (four), and Tizi Ouzou (three), according to the minister, speaking on national television. An earlier local media report had said two people died and an unspecified number were injured in the coastal province of Bejaia, about 300 kilometres from the capital Algiers.

Sayoud said 54 people were being treated for burns at a hospital in Bejaia, including six in serious condition. A local radio station reported that an eight-year-old boy and a 22-year-old woman were among the dead in Bejaia.

Sayoud and Health Minister Mohamed Seddik Ait Messaoudene had traveled to the affected area, according to the report. Firefighting efforts were ongoing as blaze incidents rose.