Britain has sent two RAF helicopters to aid Israeli firefighters attempting to control a forest fire that has spread across parts of northern Israel.

The helicopters, which are already on the ground in Israel, are equipped with large buckets to take water from the sea and spread it over the affected area. They have already made two flights and are about to set off on a third.

Firefighters are battling to control what experts have described as the worst forest fire in Israeli history as a devastating inferno rages through the country’s Carmel mountains region for a second day.

The fire, which has already destroyed an estimated 5,000 acres of forest and bush land in northern Israel, saw its first casualties yesterday afternoon when a bus sent to help evacuate a nearby prison caught fire, killing up to 40 Israeli prison guards.

Up to 40 Israelis are believed to have been killed or injured after a bus crashed while evacuating people from a devastating forest fire in the Carmel Mountains near Haifa.

The accident involved a bus transporting prison guards from the Damon Prison to safety.

The blaze has also meant that hundreds of people have been taken away from their homes while the University of Haifa has been forced to evacuate its campus.