Jerusalem, Dec. 2 (Reuters): A huge forest fire swept northern Israel today, killing up to 40 people, many of them prison guards who were trapped in a bus trying to flee the flames, security officials said.

Israeli television showed pictures of a gutted bus and car that were apparently engulfed by the blaze in the Carmel Forest, near the city of Haifa. “It’s a disaster on a scale that we have never seen before,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

The Zaka rescue service said at least 40 people had been killed. The Magen David Adom paramedics said an hour later that they could confirm 22 deaths. Israeli media said it was the biggest forest fire in the country’s history, with 2,800 hectares of land destroyed and firecrews struggling to contain the disaster.

Rescue services said dozens of people were injured and police ordered hundreds of residents out of their homes as helicopters joined fire trucks in trying to douse the blaze. Officials evacuated a prison where Palestinian detainees are normally held and the dead guards were believed to have been up at the jail on a course when the blaze took hold.

A security source said the driver of the bus crashed attempting to flee the area, giving his passengers no chance to escape the raging fire.