Forest fires kill 8 in Algeria, villages evacuated

ALGIERS, Aug 30 (Reuters) Forest fires have killed eight people and forced the evacuation of several villages in Algeria, mainly in the Kabylie region east of Algiers, state news agency APS said today.

Six people including a woman and two children were fatally burnt yesterday in the area around the Kabylie town of Tizi Ouzou, 120 km (75 miles) east of the capital.

The two other deaths occurred yesterday in the region of Jijel, 500 km east of the capital.

A fire department spokesman said there were still 69 forest fires burning around the country but that the situation in the Kabylie region was coming under control.

Fires triggered by high temperatures or drought often break out in summer in Algeria, Africa's second biggest country.

Temperatures in parts of the Mediterranean and southern Europe have been especially high this summer. Scores of people have died as a result of the heat, including at least 64 in Greece from forest fires.

REUTERS PD PM1940