In the last days of August, fires ravaged northeastern Algeria. The images of the collective burial of several dozen people revive the debate on the true toll of the fires, even though the authorities have not communicated on this subject since August 26. Moroccan accounts subsequently spread disinformation.

Published on: 09/02/2026 - 7:43 p.m. Modified on: 09/02/2026 - 7:44 p.m.

An excavator digs a rectangular pit, at night, under the gaze of around twenty men. In these images taken from a video broadcast live on TikTok on the evening of August 27, a man comments in Algerian Arabic:

"Each time, they bring back 30, 40 [bodies]. There are a lot of missing people, there are people looking for their parents, their children, and who have not yet found them. El Ancer, Texenna, El Milia, [the region of] Jijel has almost been completely affected."

Jijel is the name of a town and a wilaya – the equivalent of a department in Algeria – located on the northeast coast of the country. This was one of the epicenters of the wave of forest fires which ravaged the region from August 26, described as "Black Wednesday" by residents and certain officials. The outskirts of the municipalities mentioned were affected by the flames between August 26 and 27, as shown by the FIRMS site of the American space agency, which allows the evolution of the fires to be observed live.

The author of the video is a young resident of Jijel, who since the start of the disaster has abandoned his usual content – ​​centered on sport and fitness – to document the situation.

According to him, the mass grave being excavated that he is filming is located in “Djemaa Beni Habibi, which was very affected”. This indication allows you to find the cemetery of this small town, located 30 kilometers east of Jijel, where the images were filmed.

A mass funeral in the presence of the Prime Minister, but without official figures

The next day, other videos broadcast by residents made it possible to partly measure the extent of the human toll of these fires.

To display this TikTok content, it is necessary to authorize audience measurement and advertising cookies.

In some images, at least 13 coffins are visible at the same time.

Another video, filmed in the cemetery after part of the mass grave had been filled, shows more than twenty individual graves consisting of simple mounds of earth topped with a bottle of water or a stick. The excavator, still at work when the images were filmed, is in the process of covering at least three other coffins with earth. A large part of the grave remains empty and seems to still be able to accommodate several remains.

To display this YouTube content, it is necessary to authorize audience measurement and advertising cookies.

An extension in your browser appears to be blocking the loading of the video player. To be able to watch this content, you must disable or uninstall it.

The ceremony took place in the presence of a large audience, the Algerian Prime Minister and several other members of the government. Official accounts also reported this, but without revealing the number of people buried that day.

Other sources provide an idea of ​​the human toll: on the evening of August 27, the day before the burial, the municipality of Djemaa Beni Habibi released two press releases on Facebook (here and here) giving the names of victims gathered in two different hospitals. They are intended for families, so that they can come and see the bodies.

Once the duplicates between the two lists were removed, our editorial staff established that they contained a total of 72 names.

A provisional assessment largely exceeded

The Algerian authorities no longer publish official figures concerning deaths and injuries linked to the latest wave of fires at the end of August. The latest provisional report, given on August 26 by the Minister of the Interior, reported 12 dead and 54 injured. Figures denied by the collective burial of Djemaa Beni Habibi alone.

Other reports from the field contradict the official figures. An Algerian MP who visited the disaster area on August 31 stated on Facebook that 19 members of the same family died in the village of El Ancer during the "Black Wednesday" fires.

Based on press releases from officials, administrations or families, the Observers editorial team was able to identify at least 98 names of victims in the Jijel region. By adding local media publications – sometimes difficult to verify and which do not systematically give the names of victims – our count reaches nearly 130 potential victims. Journalist Nozha Khelalef, cited by certain Algerian media and the French newspaper Le Monde, arrives at more than 200 deaths using a similar method.

The number of victims is probably even higher. Jeune Afrique reported on Friday August 28 the comments of anonymous sources close to the Algerian Ministry of Defense. These claimed that 385 people had died in the fires, not including those who were missing.

The Observers editorial staff contacted the Algerian Civil Protection to find out if the official report of the fires had changed since August 26. She did not respond to us immediately. We will update this article if new information reaches us.

A drama manipulated by accounts favorable to the Moroccan government

On

One of them broadcasts a video showing, according to him, “more than 20 victims”, “buried at 3 a.m.”. “Another video [which] denies the version of the Algerian military regime,” he assures. The Observers editorial team was unable to independently verify these assertions.

Others do not hesitate to divert the images of the mass burial of Djemaa Beni Habibi. Taking up the images from the live TikTok showing the digging of the mass grave, an account entitled “Opinion Marocaine” claims that they show “the burial operations under the cover of darkness in the collective cemeteries of the victims of the fires in Algeria, and the total absence of official Algerian media”.

However, these images only show the preparations for the ceremony, probably on the night of August 27 to 28. The burial itself did not take place at night, in secret, as this account claims, but during the day, in the presence of a large audience and local and national dignitaries, as seen above. It was also covered by certain Algerian media critical of the government's action.

The content you are trying to access does not exist or is no longer available.