Tunisia Civil Protection reports record summer 2026 interventions

The Tunisian National Office of Civil Protection (ONPC) has released its summer 2026 operational report, highlighting record-breaking intervention numbers. During July 2026, the agency recorded 23,416 interventions, averaging 756 per day and 32 per hour. A significant portion of these were fire-related, with 5,532 interventions dedicated to extinguishing various types of fires. Notably, between July 21 and July 23, the agency faced an exceptional peak, averaging 300 fires per day.

Regarding maritime safety, the ONPC reported 69 drowning deaths on Tunisian beaches during the summer, representing a 15% decrease compared to 2025. Conversely, the number of people rescued rose by 80%, totaling 688 individuals. Authorities attributed the decrease in deaths to reinforced surveillance, which included 310 monitoring stations and a team of 1,451 lifeguards and 127 surveillance agents.

Despite the improvement in survival rates, officials warned that 46% of drownings occurred at unsupervised beaches or outside of authorized swimming hours. The summer season was also characterized by extreme weather, with temperatures in late August reaching as high as 49°C.