Over 100 families evacuated in Tunisia as wildfires spread

Tunisian authorities have evacuated more than 100 families in the central Kairouan province and in Siliana in the country’s northwest due to wildfires, officials said late Monday.

Member of parliament Nabil Al-Hamdi said 100 families were evacuated from Mount Qaytoun in Kairouan’s El Oueslatia district after a fire that first started on Mount Bargou in Siliana.

Speaking to the state news agency TAP, Al-Hamdi said strong winds helped the fire spread and pushed the flames close to residential areas, prompting authorities to evacuate families and house them inside a school.

In Siliana, Regional Commissioner for Agricultural Development Jamal Al-Farchichi said strong winds caused the Mount Boulemane fire to expand and reach the Ain Bousadia area in Bargou district on the border with Kairouan.

A number of families had been evacuated from the area and housed in a training and summer camp center, he said, adding that no casualties were reported.

Two military aircraft were deployed to extinguish fire pockets that were difficult to reach by land, while reinforcements arrived from Zaghouan, Kairouan and Kef provinces, Al-Farchichi said.

On Sunday, Tunisia’s official news agency said 10 families had been evacuated from an area near the mountain, while a local hospital received 18 people who suffered panic attacks due to the renewed fires.

The wildfires came amid a severe heat wave in Tunisia, with temperatures reaching 49.8C (121.6F) in Kairouan, according to the Tunisian Observatory of Weather and Climate.