Israeli forest fire near Haifa kills 40 prison guards
Baku, December 2 (AZERTAC). About 40 prison guards have died after being trapped in a forest fire that is raging out of control in northern Israel, police say.
All the dead were on a bus which was caught in the inferno, in the Carmel Mountains near the city of Haifa, they said.
Hundreds of people, many of them prison inmates, have been evacuated from the area.
Scores more have been injured, the ambulance service said.
The Israeli prison service said the bus was carrying guards to help with the evacuation of nearby Damon Prison because of the blaze.
The men had not worked at the prison but had raced to the area from central Israel to assist in the rescue, prison service spokesman Yaron Zamir said.
A fire brigade spokesman told the Jerusalem Post that the blaze had travelled 1,500m (4,920ft) in less than three minutes.
"The bus had no chance. They tried to escape but were burned alive. It was a horrific scene," the spokesman told the newspaper.
No inmates were reported injured.
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