About 40 people have died in what is thought to be Israel's largest ever forest fire, police have said.

Many of the victims were prison guards travelling on a bus which was caught in the inferno in the Carmel Mountains near the northern city of Haifa.

Thousands of people, including prison inmates, have been evacuated from the area.

Scores more have been injured, the ambulance service said. The cause of the blaze was not immediately known.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has visited the affected area, said it was an "unprecedented disaster".

相關(guān)中文報(bào)道：

當(dāng)?shù)貢r(shí)間12月2號(hào)，以色列北部的卡梅爾山區(qū)突發(fā)森林大火，造成至少41人死亡。截至5號(hào)下午，火勢(shì)已經(jīng)得到基本控制。

以色列北部港城海法附近的卡梅爾國(guó)家公園12月2日下午發(fā)生空前規(guī)模森林大火，準(zhǔn)備疏散犯人的40名獄警學(xué)員喪生。這是以建國(guó)62年來最大規(guī)模森林火災(zāi)。

以色列今年暖冬、干旱，當(dāng)天氣溫近30度，大風(fēng)助火勢(shì)蔓延迅速，數(shù)百名消防員無法阻止火勢(shì)。一輛前往達(dá)蒙監(jiān)獄準(zhǔn)備疏散囚犯的大巴中的40名獄警學(xué)員未及逃生，緊鄰大巴的警車中的海法警察局長(zhǎng)也被嚴(yán)重?zé)齻?百名囚犯安全疏散，大都為巴勒斯坦人。周圍1萬多居民疏散，2800公頃山林草地遭毀。

以總理內(nèi)塔尼亞胡當(dāng)晚乘直升機(jī)視察，并發(fā)表電視講話動(dòng)員全國(guó)力量應(yīng)對(duì)空前火災(zāi)。他還呼吁國(guó)際救援滅火，塞浦路斯、希臘、土耳其等8國(guó)派消防飛機(jī)和阻燃劑協(xié)助滅火。