Algeria orders probe into mob lynching linked to wildfires

Algeria's official news agency APS says a prosecutor has ordered an investigation into the circumstances of the lynching death of a man accused of setting fires that devastated the region

ALGIERS, Algeria -- An Algerian prosecutor has ordered an investigation into the death of a man who was lynched by a mob after being accused of setting fires that devastated the region, Algeria's official APS news agency said. Wildfires in Algeria have killed at least 69 people through the mountainous Berber region. The killing took place in Larbaa Nath Irathen, in the Tizi Ouzou district, one of the worst hit by the fires. The victim was identified as 38-year-old Djamel Ben Ismail. The local prosecutor issued a statement carried by APS on Thursday “following videos on Wednesday on social media showing the killing of a citizen (burned to death and lynched).”