Algerian police Tuesday announced another 25 arrests over the lynching of a man falsely accused of starting deadly forest fires last week, taking the total number of suspects to 61.

The latest arrests were made in several provinces across the country, police said in a statement, adding that the suspects were also accused of damaging public and police property.

The victim, Djamel Ben Ismail, 38, had turned himself in at a police station in the Tizi Ouzou region that was worst hit by the fires after hearing he was suspected of involvement.

Videos posted online show a crowd surrounding a police van and beating a man inside it. They then drag him out and set him on fire, with some taking selfies.

The shocking images were widely shared and sparked outrage in Algeria.

The fires spurred by a blistering heatwave killed at least 90 people in the North African country, with authorities blaming arsonists and "criminals" for the outbreaks.

They have pointed a finger of blame at the independence movement of the hard-hit mainly Berber region of Kabylie that extends along the Mediterranean coast east of Algiers.

But Said Salhi, vice-president of Algeria's Human Rights League (LADDH), told AFP: "Only a fair trial can uncover the truth and give justice to Djamel".

'Fierce' French wildfire forces evacuations near Saint-Tropez
Cogolin, France (AFP) Aug 17, 2021 - French firefighters battled to contain a raging wildfire near the glitzy Mediterranean resort of Saint-Tropez on Tuesday, with thousands of residents and holidaymakers forced to evacuate.

Roughly 1,000 firefighters were using high-pressure hoses, aircraft and helicopters in an attempt to control the flames, which began racing through the scrubland and trees of the Plaine des Maures nature reserve on Monday evening.

"The coming hours will be absolutely decisive" for the firefighting effort, President Emmanuel Macron said during an early evening visit to first responders.

While Macron added that "the battle is ongoing and the fire has not yet been contained, stabilised," he said that the firefighters' courage had managed to "avoid the worst" with no casualties so far.

Eric Grohin, a colonel in the Var department firefighters, said the flames were regularly leaping gaps of up to 800 metres (900 yards), making it difficult to hem the blazes in.

"There's not much we can do beyond protecting human lives and homes," he said.

But a spokesman for the firefighters later told AFP that the wind had dropped.

"The situation isn't as worrying as last night, but it remains a concern," he said.

Around 7,000 people have been evacuated from homes and campsites, the Var prefecture said, many to the safety of municipal buildings and schools.

Among them were 1,300 people staying at a campsite in the village of Bormes-les-Mimosas down the coast from Saint-Tropez.

Many tourists could be still be seen enjoying the sunshine on the nearby Cote d'Azur beaches, however, as Canadair firefighting aircraft swooped in regularly to fill their tanks from the sea before returning to the smoking hills nearby.

Others loaded up their cars and headed for safety, leading officials to plead for people in secure areas to stay at home and avoid blocking roads used by the emergency services.

"We started smelling the smoke around 7:00 pm (1700 GMT), then we saw the flames on the hill," said Cindy Thinesse, who fled the Mole campsite near Cavalaire on Monday evening. "We hesitated, but when we saw that, we decided to leave," she told AFP.

President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte are on holiday at the nearby Bregancon Fort and he announced he would visit the scene later Tuesday.

- Portugal, Spain fires -

Large blazes have already ravaged parts of Turkey, Bulgaria, Albania, Northern Macedonia, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Israel, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco this year.

The Mediterranean basin has long faced seasonal wildfires linked to its dry and hot weather in the summer, but climate scientists warn they will become increasingly common because of man-made global warming.

Around 600 firefighters in Portugal were also battling a fresh blaze in Castro Marim in the Algarve region on Tuesday, a tourist hotspot in the far south of the country close to the border with Spain.

A separate fire in central Spain near Navalacruz is also being brought under control, regional authorities have said, but around 12,000 hectares of forest have gone up in flames.

- 'Such speed' -

The French fire is believed to have started near a motorway that runs through the Plaine des Maures nature reserve some 30 kilometres (18 miles) northwest of Saint-Tropez.

The wind-fanned blaze had ripped through some 6,500 hectares of forest and scrubland by Tuesday, according to the fire department.

"We've never seen it spread with such speed, it was three or four times the usual," Thomas Dombry, mayor of La Garde-Freinet village, told AFP.

Authorities were counting the cost to the environment even as the fires still raged Tuesday.

"Half of the Plain des Maures nature reserve has been devastated," said Concha Agero, deputy director of the French Office of Biodiversity.

Charred power lines lay on the ground Tuesday, as well as vines in place.

Many trees were burnt around their trunks but their branches were intact, suggesting the fire had ripped through at speed.

The fire came close to La Garde-Freinet during the night but spared the settlement, which was badly hit in 2003 by a catastrophic blaze that cost the lives of three firefighters.

Related Links
Forest and Wild Fires - News, Science and Technology

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Wildfires ravage Greek island of Evia
Paris (ESA) Aug 16, 2021
Parts of the Mediterranean and central Europe have experienced extreme temperatures this summer, with wildfires causing devastation in both Turkey and Greece. The blaze on Evia, Greece's second-largest island, is one of the worst hit with fires having burned down large forested areas, homes and businesses - forcing thousands to evacuate by sea to save their lives. This false-colour Copernicus Sentinel-2 image was captured yesterday on 11 August, and has been processed in a way that included the ne ... read more