RAGING FIRE IN ISRAEL KILLS AT LEAST 40 PEOPLE

HAIFA, Israel - As if it was a wrath from God a forest fire raging out of control in the Carmel Mountains near the northern Israeli city of Haifa, the ambulance service says. It is reported about 40 Prison Service officer course cadets have been killed.
Police are evacuating thousands of people, including hundreds of prison inmates. There were reports that a bus carrying 50 prisoners was trapped in the inferno after overturning. Scores of people have been injured, the ambulance service said.

• The mass evacuation continues into night as fire rages in northern Israel, thousands of Haifa residents ordered to leave homes; at least 40 people dead, casualty information center reopens for first time since Second Lebanon War
• More than 15,000 people were evacuated from their homes by late Thursday as a massive fire continued to rage in northern Israel.

• The raging fire was spreading early Friday, with flames reaching the entrance to the Druze village of Isfiya as well as an IDF prison evacuated earlier. Firefighting teams were battling the blaze at both sites. The fire also reached the northern town of Tirat Carmel, whose residents were evacuated earlier. Police officials asked residents not to return to their homes at this time.
• Thursday night, officials in Haifa, Israel's third largest city, ordered the evacuation of many streets in the Denia neighborhood. Mayor Yona Yahav said that some 2,500 people were evacuated from their homes and sent to stay at shelters elsewhere in the city. He added that initially winds were pushing the flames towards the neighborhood but later changed direction, pushing the blaze southward.
• Earlier in the evening, some 5,000 residents in Tirat Carmel were ordered to leave home and thousands of others were evacuated from various northern communities. Two prisons and a psychiatric hospital were also evacuated for fear the flames would reach them.

The Interior Ministry's casualty information center has been reopened for the first time since the Second Lebanon War to collect all the information on blaze victims.
Speaking earlier in the evening, Israel's firefighting chief, Shimon Romach said he was not optimistic about the prospects of containing the fire at this time.

Source: AFP