Death toll in Israel bushfire rises to 43

Sat, 04 Dec 2010

Tel Aviv - The death toll from the massive bushfire in northern Israel rose to 43 Saturday morning, after the charred remains of a 16-year-old youth were identified.

Israel Radio named the latest fatality as Elad Rebin, a volunteer fireman who perished when trying to rescue prison service cadets whose bus had been trapped in the inferno. Some 36 cadets on the bus were burned to death. The other dead were police officers, firemen, and a civilian.

On Saturday morning, some 44 hours after the fire first began on the drought-stricken, heavily-forested Carmel hill, south-east of the city of Haifa, it was still defying efforts to bring it under control.

During the night the flames spread to the villages of Nir Ezion and Ein Hod, burning houses, and forcing police and firefighters to rescue residents who had not already fled.

However, firefighters managed to prevent the flames from reaching the Haifa suburb of Deniya, which lies on the south-eastern outskirts of the city, even though at one stage it was only one kilometer from the quarter's outlying streets.

The inferno also reached a hotel, and a wildlife reserve.

Early-morning reports said the blaze was concentrated between the village of Beit Oren and a major road linking Haifa with Tel Aviv to the south, and between the village of Usafiya and the village of Nir Etzion.

With first light, firefighting aircraft were taking to the skies in an effort to try and bring the fire under control. Hopes were being pinned on two huge aircraft sent from Russia, which can hold tens of thousands of liters of water.

Aircraft from Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria were also involved in the firefighting efforts, and more planes from Spain and France were expected to arrive. Other countries sending aid included Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Croatia, Romania, Italy, Azerbaijan, Britain and the US. The Palestinian Authority said it had sent fire trucks.

Officials said Friday night that since it broke out, the fire had destroyed more than 3,400 hectares of land, devoured over 4 million trees, and forced 17,000 people to flee their homes.

But another fire, which began near the town of Ma'alot, about 40 kilometers north-east of the Carmel fire, was brought under control. City officials said they suspected arson.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/356515,israel-bushfire-rises-43.html.