Algerian prime minister visits survivors after deadly fire at orphanage

Algerian Prime Minister Sifi Ghrieb spoke with survivors after a fire burning at an orphanage in the country's capital has killed at least 11 people, including children, according to authorities.

Algeria has been sweltering under a heatwave for several days, and nearly 1,000 fires have been recorded in the space of a week. "On behalf of the president and the members of the government, I would like to extend our sincere condolences to the families of the victims," said Ghrieb.

Firefighters had been battling to extinguish the flames since before dawn in the Mohammadia suburb of Algiers.

"At around 3:00 am, we heard the fire engines arriving and the children screaming," said Abdessalam Merrah, 41, who lives nearby.

"We helped as much as we could, but unfortunately we were told that 11 people had already died."

An AFP journalist saw black stains around the building's windows on Thursday morning. A witness said firefighters had used a chainsaw to remove metal bars from a window.

The Algerian civil defence said the toll was provisional and added that another 19 people were injured in the fire, the cause of which is unknown.

Rachid Belhadj, head of the forensic medicine department at Mustapha Bacha Hospital, told local television that some of the bodies were completely burned and required DNA tests to be identified.

Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune later said "several children" were among the dead.