HAIFA, Israel, (Reuters) – A huge fire swept through a forest in northern Israel yesterday, killing up to 40 people, many of them prison guards who were trapped in a bus trying to flee the flames, security services said.
Israel called on Greece, Italy, Cyprus and Russia to send aircraft to help them battle the blaze, which was raging out of control on hills approaching the city of Haifa more than seven hours after it first took hold.
Local fire services mobilised emergency crews from across the country, and fire trucks tried desperately to reach the scene, weaving through heavy rush hour traffic as night fell.
“It’s a disaster on a scale that we have never seen before,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
