Algerian civil protection authorities evacuated several families in the country's northeastern province of Jijel as wildfires there threatened residential areas.

Videos circulating on social media showed panicked residents sheltering inside a building as thick smoke filled the air.

The rescue body did not say how many people had been evacuated or displaced because of the fires.

Algeria has grappled with wildfires over the summer, with at least six people killed in several provinces last month, according to the authorities.

Multi-front wildfires

Algeria says 58 separate wildfires broke out in 16 provinces, 21 of which have since been extinguished, while efforts remain underway to put out the rest amid an ongoing heatwave in the North African country.

In eastern Algeria, Skikda recorded seven fires; El Tarf and Jijel recorded five each; and Annaba four, the Algerian Civil Protection Agency said in a statement.

Three fires were also reported in Bejaia, along with several blazes in other provinces, according to the agency.

In Jijel province, precautionary evacuations were carried out in the Ouled Yahia Khadrouche and Chekfa municipalities, where both airborne and ground-based firefighting resources were deployed.

Government response

A Mi-26 firefighting helicopter was deployed in Ouled Yahia Khadrouche, while two AT-802 firefighting aircraft were sent to fight the conflagration in Chekfa.

In El Tarf province, people were evacuated from two amusement parks after a fire erupted in the Bouteldja municipality.

Firefighting efforts on the ground have been bolstered by aerial resources, including a BE-200 firefighting aircraft, the statement said.

Every summer, northern Algeria is hit by forest fires, a phenomenon exacerbated by drought and climate change.

Dozens of people have been killed in recent years, and thousands of hectares of forest and farmland destroyed, along with numerous homes.