Jerusalem: A fire raging in a rain-starved northern Israel forest on Thursday has left at least 40 people dead, caused the evacuation of thousands of people, burned some kibbutz houses to the ground and prompted the Israeli government to call for urgent international aid in fighting the inferno.
A spokesman for the fire service in the area, Hezi Levy, said the fire was the biggest and deadliest in Israel's history. "We've lost control," Reuters quoted him as saying. "I am asking all firefighters throughout Israel to phone in and report for duty."
Israel called on Cyprus, Italy, Russia and Greece to send firefighting planes, according to the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mr. Netanyahu said the disaster was of proportions that Israel had not seen before. At least some of the fatalities came when a bus carrying prison guards near a penitentiary got caught in the flames, according to a police spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld. The penitentiary, Damun, sits in the Carmel hills near the city of Haifa and holds both Israelis and Palestinians.
In Kibbutz Beit Oren, a communal farm in the Carmel hills, several houses were burned to the ground. Most of the residents were believed to have evacuated ahead of the fire. The University of Haifa was evacuated as a precaution, as was a luxury spa hotel, Yaarot Hacarmel.
The president's office said in a statement that Mr. Peres had spoken with the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, Salam Fayyad, who "expressed his condolences to the people of Israel on behalf of the Palestinian people."
A spokesman for the fire service in the area, Hezi Levy, said the fire was the biggest and deadliest in Israel's history. "We've lost control," Reuters quoted him as saying. "I am asking all firefighters throughout Israel to phone in and report for duty."
Israel called on Cyprus, Italy, Russia and Greece to send firefighting planes, according to the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mr. Netanyahu said the disaster was of proportions that Israel had not seen before. At least some of the fatalities came when a bus carrying prison guards near a penitentiary got caught in the flames, according to a police spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld. The penitentiary, Damun, sits in the Carmel hills near the city of Haifa and holds both Israelis and Palestinians.
In Kibbutz Beit Oren, a communal farm in the Carmel hills, several houses were burned to the ground. Most of the residents were believed to have evacuated ahead of the fire. The University of Haifa was evacuated as a precaution, as was a luxury spa hotel, Yaarot Hacarmel.
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The president's office said in a statement that Mr. Peres had spoken with the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, Salam Fayyad, who "expressed his condolences to the people of Israel on behalf of the Palestinian people."
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