50,000 FLEE RAGING ISRAELI BUSHFIRES

HAIFA: Raging bushfires forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from parts of Israel's third city Haifa yesterday as firefighters struggled to control blazes across the country. Some residents were trapped in their homes as the army called up reservists to help cope with a third day of fires which authorities speculated could have been started deliberately. Haifa municipality spokesman Or Doron told AFP that 50,000 of the city's roughly 250,000 residents had been evacuated. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said residents in eight neighbourhoods had been told to leave.