0:01 A death toll that has climbed to over 220, met with state silence. This is the dramatic and tragically unprecedented situation currently prevailing in Algeria, several days after the forest fire disasters that ravaged several provinces, 13 to be exact, in the north and northeast of the country, which particularly devastated and scarred the cities of Jijel and Bejaia, with the province of Jijel unfortunately topping the list of this disaster as the most ravaged, scarred, and hardest-hit region by these forest fires. A death toll of
0:47 over 220, ladies and gentlemen; as of yesterday, September 3, 2026, no official count has yet been released. We did not expect reactions or a statement from the Algerian leaders, which apparently will not happen, since it was confirmed to us officially by our best-connected sources within the Algerian establishment that Abdelmadjid Tebboune gave a firm instruction. For the time being, no death toll will be released, no figures will be disclosed. The Algerian state will maintain complete silence. Forgive me, ladies and gentlemen, this makes us sick; the situation is simply incomprehensible.
1:35 It is incomprehensible how one can remain silent, how one can observe such a cold and indifferent mutism in the face of so many deaths, in the face of such a tragedy. We have been able to cross-reference information. We have utilized information that reached us from the field from several localities in the province of Jijel in particular, and certain localities in Bejaia. We have used death records communicated to us by local sources from several cities in Jijel and Bejaia, particularly from Jijel, including obituaries and municipal announcements published on social media. We have also examined, analyzed, and utilized images of
2:20 funerals and burials published on social media by eyewitnesses or by grieving family members who lost several of their brothers, sisters, parents, or very close neighbors and friends in this unspeakable tragedy. We therefore based our findings on these three elements: municipal lists and obituaries from the communes of Jijel, the announcements made on social media by the victims 'families, and the testimonies shared on social media by the families of the victims. And we also accessed information coming from certain hospital sources in Jijel,
3:06 which compiled a list of people who died and were recorded among the deaths in the hospitals of the Jijel region. And we have reached this figure of more than 220 dead, with practically 205 deaths in Jijel alone. Add to that a few deaths that were also confirmed to us, deaths confirmed by residents or local and hospital sources, or even security sources in Bejaia and elsewhere in the country. We are unfortunately facing a toll that, as of yesterday, September 3, 2026, exceeds the mark of 220 dead. We have even drawn up a list, or a macabre ranking,
3:51 I must admit, but the information must be made public to understand the scale of this tragedy and to understand its ins and outs. One cannot grasp the stakes of these tragic forest fires, which have plunged Algeria into mourning and shaken it entirely, if one does not face, understand, and accept the truth of the figures and the facts, and if one does not grasp the scale of the toll. So, the most lethal localities in Jijel, well, the Algerian localities most bruised and, let's say, shaken by these forest fires are naturally located in the Jijel region, the most lethal region indeed. You have , therefore, a region the one that was
4:39 truly the most affected, the most deadly affected, is the locality of Djemaa Beni Habibi, where 55 people who died in the wake of these forest fires have already been buried. 49 people were buried in Bordj Tahar and 26 people were buried in El Ancer. These are the three most affected localities and. When I say localities, I am not talking about communes, because there is the commune, there is the APC, there is the main town, and then you have the surrounding villages and the surrounding settlements or subdivisions , notably villages located in the mountains, scattered in the forest, which are attached to them. I repeat, 55 people buried in, at least 55 people buried in Djemaa Beni Habibi. At least
5:26 49 people were buried in Bordj Tahar and at least 26 people were buried in El Ancer. In the list, we could find in 4th place another locality, Bouraoui Belhadef, where 20 bodies have already been buried. To this, we must add other localities that have buried about ten people, fewer than 20 people. We find ourselves with, in Jijel alone, a list of deceased persons of more than 205 dead. If we add the deaths that have also been, uh, if we add, and we must add, if we add the deaths that were also deplored in Tizi and Béjaïa, we are unfortunately at over 220 deaths.
6:12 220 deaths counted on the ground. That is the human toll. I am not talking about the material damage. We are currently working on a map of the material damage. Thousands of hectares have burned and zero reliable statements from the Algerian administration, from the Algerian government. It is simply irrational. This attitude, it is irrational. There is no pretext, no argument that can explain this opacity in the face of a natural disaster. We really cannot, uh, condone this silence. What are they trying to hide from us about the Tizi Ouzou fires, while the 200-death mark has been surpassed? But officially, it is a total void, and an analysis is necessary. You should know that this
6:59 toll remains provisional, and is unfortunately bound to rise consequently, since according to several other hospital and local sources, there are still about forty bodies that have not yet been identified, which are for the most part totally charred—I mean totally charred. Many families have lost their loved ones. Families where we can even count a dozen deaths per family. It is simply horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible. And the Bro family for example in Ansar, the Brir family in Bordj T'har in Djebahia. There is a, there is a tragedy that struck the family of an Algerian named Djamel
7:46 Shelroum, where his wife and three of their children, as well as the husband, the father of the family, his wife and three of his children, have all died. Unfortunately, many children are among the victims. Including even three infants who have been identified among the victims of the Tizi Ouzou forest fires. It is a carnage. A carnage, frankly, the most affected regions remain, once again, as I said, Tizi Ouzou and Béjaïa. Then we find, uh, Texanna, Oued El Khroub, Skikda, Mansouria; this 200-victim mark has been widely surpassed. It is simply a warning signal that should also prompt all of Algeria to reflect on the
8:31 situation of the country, on the way the country is managed. Once again, there are other local sources that put forward figures of more than 300 deaths . We have not been able to document them. The 220 are documented. I mean, we have seen the footage of the burials , we have confirmed with hospital sources, they have processed the deaths , the bodies were recovered, they were buried or taken, and their names were published in obituary notices and municipal lists. It is possible, once again, that this death toll could increase significantly because, once again, there is a huge problem, which is that there are several, about a dozen bodies. We have, for the moment, been able to obtain information that between 42 and 43 bodies are extremely burned, have not yet been identified,
9:16 and could be added to this toll. Will we exceed the 300 mark? I am not, we are not going to engage in macabre and funeral speculation. It must be pointed out that the biggest problem today is the identification of the bodies. Identifying bodies in Jijel, there is no DNA analysis laboratory to be able to locate and identify the bodies. The bodies, when they are charred, are unrecognizable. You cannot distinguish a man from a woman, an elderly person from a young one, and so on. You can distinguish children because of the size of the corpses and so on, but to identify them with precision remains extremely complicated. And uh generally , we informed ourselves a little bit on the scientific front. Uh, normally with a test, a device, we call it a rapid
10:02 DNA and with a buccal swab, we can produce a genetic profile of a human being in less than 90 minutes. In less than 80 90 minutes, 90 minutes is the time of a football match. 90 minutes, uh 90, forgive me, I am lost, I am a bit very moved by the, it is a really difficult subject, really because it is so tragic. On the other hand, a conventional analysis of a corpse can take between 8 hours to a few days. The problem that arises, notably in Jijel, is that these are bodies that have been entirely charred, truly charred. And according to scientific reports, according to the experts we consulted, sometimes one cannot even identify a
10:49 body that is entirely charred. You should know that the heat of a charred body fragments or destroys the DNA. Uh, it will sometimes be necessary to collect several tissues, teeth, or fragments of bone to be able to identify a human being. The bone must be cleaned, ground, and decalcified before extraction. All of which is necessary, this is for corpses that are truly entirely carbonized where no trace remains, no clothes, no garments, no bloodstains, nothing at all. Uh, the result, moreover, can be the result of a DNA test can be partial, it may require a new analysis. Uh, to perform DNA tests, contamination and mixing between victims must be avoided. Body parts; you have bodies that have become
11:35 dismembered and mixed together. And, uh , that takes time. Indeed, in some cases, due to very high temperatures, some remains may no longer contain enough usable DNA. Meaning, if we delay performing a DNA test when a body is charred and burned by forest fire flames, we can no longer use it. We can no longer obtain any DNA. So, it is very complicated scientific work. Uh, identifying bodies generally involves going through four operations. Examination of remains, collection of information on the missing, comparison, and then formal validation. It can take a few hours, or it could take a few days. The problem is that in Jijel, there is no laboratory for analysis or DNA testing, and all samples must be sent to Algiers, to the capital Algiers
12:22 , which raises questions since Jijel is not very far from Constantine. And in Constantine, we are supposed to have a regional forensic science laboratory that normally receives files and samples from 18 provinces in the east or southeast; it has a forensic biology division that can specifically process blood, tissue, bone, and cases involving the discovery of bodies. And normally, they also have the capacity in Constantine to carry out these DNA tests. We do not understand why. We must always depend on the capital, Algiers, to perform all the DNA tests or to obtain all the results of the DNA
13:08 tests taken from the bodies of the victims of the Jijel forest fires. So for the moment, there is no rationally convincing official explanation that that justifies the decision to depend on Algiers rather than Constantine. Perhaps Constantine's resources are limited. It is true that this time, there are dozens and dozens of bodies to identify. It is a somewhat complex tragedy. DNA technology is sophisticated, but scientifically, it is proven to be in no way new or experimental in 2026. It is completely accessible. Producing a genetic profile quickly from a good sample has become a routine operation in developed
13:53 countries. However, indeed, identifying dozens of charred bodies, on the other hand, requires a fairly complex forensic operation. So it is quite complicated; honestly, I think they should have set up a laboratory in Jijel. Honestly, regarding the Algerian army, I truly don't understand how and why the Algerian army didn't set up a field hospital in Jijel. According to several experts, the Algerian army has the capacity to deploy a field forensic structure in Jijel intended to accelerate the identification of victims and bodies. Uh, we have no proof that it possesses a mobile laboratory capable of performing the
14:39 entire DNA analysis chain on carbonized bodies on-site on a large scale. That is the big question that must be asked of our army, considering its 25- billion-dollar annual budget. If the army doesn't have a mobile lab capable of actually performing DNA tests on-site at scale, we should really ask serious questions about the management of our public funds. On the other hand, the Algerian army does have field hospitals. It can set up analysis units , radiology and intensive care services , uh, and medical and logistical teams. Personally, I haven't seen it; the involvement of the Algerian army has been extremely minor for the time being . In fact, it's insignificant, and I don't understand it; I just don't understand it. They could have set up a military operation including a
15:26 temporary refrigerated morgue to examine, photograph, and number each body, for example, take usable fingerprints, perform X-rays, carry out dental exams, collect tissues, teeth, and bone fragments, store samples under controlled conditions, collect buccal swabs from families, centralize the files of the missing, and transfer samples daily to Constantine. Algiers —the army really could have done that , could have helped. The National Gendarmerie in Algeria is mobilized, however; it is a branch of the army on-site, but to conduct investigations, not really to identify bodies, and so on. Uh, so there are many questions, but there is no transparency. We don't know how the Tebboune regime is conducting things, how it is managing
16:13 this post-disaster period. We don't know. All we see, all the victims see, is that they are burying their loved ones with a simple unique number associated with a body and a coffin. There you go, they have no photos, no descriptions, no DNA samples. They weren't able to do the necessary work, the dental records, the dental records, or fingerprints when possible. We only have the location, the mapping of the graves, but we don't have the registry. We don't even have a central registry that links all the numbers to all the samples. That, we don't have. There is no proof that this work has been done. Will the Algerian authorities exhume the bodies to then return them to their families? All we have for the moment are unique numbers associated with a body and a coffin. Will the Algerian
17:00 authorities be able to trace or link all these numbers to DNA samples? I hope so. In any case, what is happening on the ground remains opaque. The Algerian authorities, no communication. The families are completely lost. They have to turn sometimes to civil defense , one day to the Algerian gendarmerie, one day to the national gendarmerie, another day they are sent to the public prosecutor of the local court. Then, they have to go to the hospital to speak with those responsible for the mortuary or the bodies of the deceased. It is a a confu-the confusion is general. There is anarchy on the ground that is unacceptable, that is intolerable, that is inexplicable and which reveals once again a level of amateurism and lack of preparation of
17:46 the regime, so we can understand that people absolutely must be buried before identification. It is not necessarily abnormal because the morgues are full. It is also impossible to keep bodies with dignity for very long, but it is not acceptable to bury them if a process is not-if there is no rigorously traceable process in place. We cannot be content with giving numbers and so on without photos, again , without at least a central registry that links these numbers to all DNA samples. So, we would like the Algerian authorities to provide us with explanations. We would like the Ministry of National Defense to explain to us why the army is not involved and why the army is not putting all the means at its dispo-at the disposal of rescue services and at the disposal of
18:33 civilian hospitals and so on to accelerate the identification of victims? Is there anything in Constantine? Why depend on Algiers? I know that there were calls for tenders, there were-there were commitments that were made by the Algerian authorities and so on to be able to-to be able to set up new equipment. We are in Constantine to be able to analyze samples and obtain DNA results. But there is no transparency in this matter . Once again, these are calls for ten- commitments and so on regarding funding . For the moment, nothing official. has not yet been enacted, and this state silence is unfortunate, as is this inability of the Algerian state to face
19:19 this tragedy, to properly address the needs of the victims, and is simply an additional distress, an additional misfortune. Mr.
