Plane from Bulgaria Arrives in Israel to Combat Deadly Fire

Firefighters battle the flames of a massive forest fire in the Carmel Forest close to Haifa, northern Israel, 02 December 2010. Photo by EPA/BGNES

A plane arrived in Israel on Friday morning with Bulgarian firefighters and equipment to help contain a forest blaze near the port city of Haifa that has killed about 40 people and forced the departure of 14,000 others.

The plane landed at the Ramat David air base southeast of Haifa. About 20 planes from Spain, Croatia, Turkey, France, Russia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, the U.K., Egypt and Romania are expected to arrive with aid during the course of the day.

The planes will have to work over the next few days until the blaze is fully extinguished.

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".

The BBC's Jon Donnison in the region says the Israel's emergency services have not had to handle an operation on sunch a scale since the war in Lebanon in 2006.

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