Algiers: Algerian state media reported that 11 people were killed and 19 others injured in a fire that broke out at an orphanage on the outskirts of Algiers early Thursday morning.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the fire erupted at the Emergency Childcare Center in the Mohammadia neighborhood, on the eastern outskirts of the capital. The General Directorate of Civil Protection stated that 10 of the injured suffered burns of varying severity, while emergency teams evacuated five people with disabilities from the orphanage to safety. The directorate added that firefighting operations were still underway, and the identities, ages, and cause of the fire of the deceased and injured have not yet been determined.

The official Algerian news agency reported that President Abdelmadjid Tebboune expressed his sorrow on Thursday over the deaths of the children in the fire. President Tebboune, who is currently visiting Germany, offered his condolences after receiving "the news of the deaths of children and the injury of others, all Algerians, as a result of a fire that broke out at an early childhood care facility."

Algeria has been experiencing a heat wave for several days. The official Algerian news agency reported on Wednesday, citing the General Directorate of Civil Protection, that civil protection units have extinguished 913 fires nationwide since July 8th.