Their deaths bring to four the number of people who have died in the fires in the northern part of the kingdom since mid-July.
Two women died of “suffocation” after several forest fires broke out on Monday night in northern Morocco’s Lara province, which had already been hit by devastating fires recently, local authorities said Tuesday.
Their deaths bring to four the number of people who have died in the fires in the northern part of the kingdom since mid-July.
The two new victims “did not want to respond to calls from local authorities to leave their homes threatened by the fires,” authorities in Laras told AFP.
On Monday, it was announced that a volunteer died in Tanouat while participating in the firefighting operation that charred at least 330 hectares of forest area, mainly pine trees.
Another person died in Laras in mid-July.
In the same region, where thousands of acres were recently destroyed by fires, more than 700 residents of about 10 villages had to leave their homes as a precaution starting Monday.
Late last night at least four outbreaks were still active in Laras, south of the port of Tangier in the Mediterranean.
The fire department, with the help of four Canadair aircraft refueled from a nearby dam and from the sea in Tangier, is continuing efforts to control them.
Another four fires are spreading in Tanouat province. A village was threatened, but is now considered safe.
Another fire has destroyed since Monday night 350 crowns of forest area in the province of Fez-Andra, also in northern Morocco.
On Friday, the Moroccan government released almost 30 million euros to implement relief measures for fire victims and mitigate the impact of the fires on agricultural activity and the environment.
According to Morocco’s Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Forestry, Mohamed Sadiki, the total area affected by the recent fires has reached 100,300 hectares.
In comparison, a total of 27,820 hectares of forest had been destroyed by 285 fires between January and September 2021 in Morocco, especially in the mountainous Rif region (north), according to the Directorate of Water and Forestry.
According to Moroccan environmentalist Said Sakri, recent fires were caused by human activities, but “the reality of climate change” also played a role.
Morocco has been hit by a heat wave for several weeks, against a background of unusual drought and water scarcity.
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