11 Children Die in Algiers Orphanage Fire

According to Lianhe Zaobao citing Reuters, a fire at an orphanage in the Mohammadia district on the eastern outskirts of Algiers, Algeria, killed 11 children and injured 19 others. Algeria's state media reported that the blaze broke out early on Thursday, July 16. Civil defense officials said 10 of the injured suffered burns of varying degrees, and rescuers safely evacuated five people with disabilities from the orphanage. The civil defense department said firefighting was still under way and had not yet released the identities or ages of the victims, or the cause of the fire. Algeria has also been hit by a heatwave, and the Algerian Press Service APS reported on Wednesday, citing civil defense directorate data, that national civil defense units had extinguished 913 fires since July 8.