40 die in Israel fire

TEL AVIV - A major fire raged out of control in northern Israel Thursday afternoon, causing untold damage over thousands of acres of land, killing an estimated 40 people and forcing whole villages to evacuate as firefighters struggled unsuccessfully to contain the flames.

An official from Israel’s Magen David Adom first aid service said that “dozens” of people were killed in the fire, but did not confirm the exact figure.

A radio correspondent at the scene said the fatalities numbered around 40. They apparently included prisoners being evacuated from a nearby jail. Their bus overturned and was engulfed in flames, along with prison guards and firefighters.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the fire as “a disaster, the extent of which we have not yet known”.

The blaze, in the Carmel forest area, on a hill bordering the port city of Haifa, was still raging unchecked around eight hours after it started, consuming homes in the village of Beit Oren.

All residents of the village, located about 10 km south-east of Haifa, had been evacuated, as had some 40 families from Usafiya, a Druze village about four km east of Beit Oren.

A local hotel also evacuated its guests. And all 500 inmates from the Damon prison, in the path of the fire, were transferred to other detention facilities.

The fire sent up huge columns of smoke, which were visible on the coast, on the other side of the hill. Huge flames sent sparks upward into the evening sky, causing one witness to remark that the Carmel hill looked like “a volcano”.

Helicopters and firefighting aircraft were being used to douse the flames, but to no immediate effect.

Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said it was still too early to determine how the fire had started, but said arson was not being ruled out since the blaze had apparently started at several locations.