Eleven people, including children, were killed and 19 injured in a fire at an orphanage close to the Algerian capital Algiers early on Thursday (July 16), authorities said.

Locals and emergency crews rushed to the building in the Mohammadia district of the province of Algiers, where blackened masonry was visible above two window openings behind the exterior gates.

Ten of the injured suffered burns of varying severity, and emergency crews evacuated five people with disabilities from the orphanage to safety, the civil protection agency said.

It gave no details about the victims or their ages or the possible cause of the fire.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune expressed his condolences in a social media post, saying he had received news "of the deaths of children and the injuries of others following a fire that broke out at a children's care facility."

Elias Gabrini, a resident in the Mohammadia neighborhood near the orphanage who witnessed the fire, told Reuters residents rushed from their homes after hearing about the fire.

"It's truly overwhelming. Seeing this with your own eyes is not easy," he said.

Algeria has been gripped by a heatwave in recent days, with civil protection units extinguishing 913 fires nationwide since July 8, state news agency APS reported on Wednesday, citing the General Directorate of Civil Protection.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

People gather outside Algeria orphanage following fire which killed 11

VIDEO SHOWS: MEMBERS OF ALGERIA'S EMERGENCY TEAMS GATHERED OUTSIDE ORPHANAGE/PEOPLE AT SITE/SOUNDBITE FROM MAN AT SITE

RESENDING WITH FULL SCRIPT

SHOWS: ALGIERS, ALGERIA (JULY 16, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all)

1. MEMBERS OF ALGERIA'S CIVIL PROTECTION, OTHER PERSONNEL STANDING NEXT TO GATE OF ORPHANAGE

2. SIGN READING AT ENTRANCE (Arabic) 'Institution for Assisted Children – Mohammadia”

3. BLACKENED WALLS

4. MAN SPEAKING ON THE PHONE AND CRYING

5. EMERGENCY TEAMS GATHERED NEXT TO ENTRANCE OF ORPHANAGE

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) EYEWITNESS, ELIAS GABRINI, SAYING:

“This is the orphanage. The fire broke out at around 3:15 a.m. We heard about it and rushed out. The police and civil protection arrived and immediately began their work.”

7. PEOPLE STANDING NEAR SITE

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) EYEWITNESS, ELIAS GABRINI, SAYING:

“That’s everything that happened. It’s truly overwhelming seeing this with your own eyes - it is not easy, it is not easy.”

9. POLICE VEHICLE AT ENTRANCE

10. VARIOUS OF BLACKENED WALLS/ ITEMS AT SITE

11. POLICE STANDING OUTSIDE GATE