Algeria detains 30 people over devastating wildfires

FILE PHOTO: Men work to douse hotspots in an area hit by a wildfire in El Bir village, Bejaia province, Algeria August 16, 2021. REUTERS/Abdelaziz Boumzar/File Photo

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria has detained 30 people, including seven members of a separatist group that the government has declared a terrorist organisation, for involvement in wildfires that killed at least 65 people, the paramilitary police said on Wednesday.

They have been placed in custody after appearing before a court following investigations over the wildfires that erupted last month in several provinces, mainly in the Kabylie region, east of Algiers, the paramilitary police, or National Gendarmerie, said in a statement.