| Submit your comments on this article |
| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| 40 dead in northern Israel forest fire |
| 2010-12-02 |
| HAIFA, Israel (AFP) – A devastating fire killed at least 40 people on Thursday when it ripped through a forest near Israel's northern city of Haifa, prompting urgent calls for international help to put out the blaze, which officials said was the worst blaze in Israel's 62-year history. Israel's Magen David Adom ambulance service initially said around 40 people had been killed, but later said they had recovered 22 bodies, with another 20 or so "missing" -- among them police and firefighters. Police sources said the dead were prison guards who were on board a bus that was headed to evacuate prisoners from Damon jail in the middle of the Carmel national park. "All those who were killed were on board the bus. They were all prison guards," one source told AFP. Haifa's police chief was among those injured, with medical and police sources saying she was in "critical condition." |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #4 I've seen fires here in So Cal moving at 15' or more a second, depending on the Santa Ana winds. Tragic and horrific, but not uncommon, and even if they were unsecured, they would've died |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-12-02 21:29 |
| #3 Earlier on Thursday, some 40 members of the Prison Service – the majority of whom were new recruits to the Prisons Service – had been dispatched to the Damon Prison near Kibbutz Bet Oren to assist in the evacuation of some 500 prisoners from the facility. The bus however never made it to its destination. It traveled from Atlit to the prison via the winding, mountainous single lane Route 721, before suddenly becoming engulfed in flames, leaving no survivors on board. The victims' families were notified of their loses Thursday night. A tearful firefighter spokesman said the blaze had traveled 1500 meters in less than three minutes, adding, "the bus had no chance. The passengers tried to escape but were all burned alive. It was a horrific scene." The spokesman added that the fire was very far from the road on which the bus was traveling when it first set off towards the prison, but had spread far faster than expected. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-12-02 18:54 |
| #2 *other views look like sharp ravines in rolling hills. Wind Nightmare. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2010-12-02 18:03 |
| #1 IIUC it looks as though the bus was attempting, on purpose or not, to breach the fireline so as to assist the prison evacuation efforts. Rest in Peace. That is some tough terrain; tall trees, steep hills, swirling winds. Keep cool and breath clean y'all. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2010-12-02 17:47 |