Oil disaster in Israeli nature reserve

This video from Israel says about itself:

Israel oil spill ‘worst accident’ in country’s history

4 December 2014

Millions of litres of crude oil have caused severe damage after spilling from a pipeline in what is described as one of the worst environmental accidents in Israel’s history.

The spill reached the Evrona nature reserve north of the southern port city of Eilat, close to the Jordan border.

Israeli and Jordanian media report that 80 people near Aqaba have been taken to hospital with breathing difficulties.

Israeli officials say rehabilitation of the area could take months, even years.

The pipeline was breached during maintenance at a spot some 20km from Eilat on Wednesday evening.

Ronen Moshe, spokesman for the Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company (EAPC), told Haaretz newspaper that the spill happened in a new section of the pipeline.

Translated from NOS TV in the Netherlands:

Large oil spill in Israel

Thursday, December 4, 2014, 17:29

A leak in an oil pipeline seems according to the Israeli Ministry of Environment to produce one of the greatest natural disasters in Israeli history. The line between Ashkelon and Eilat has leaked millions of liters of crude oil into the Evrona Nature Reserve, near the Jordanian border.

The leak came last night during maintenance. …

The main highway to Eilat was closed for some time.

According to the ministry, the leaking oil caused much damage to the flora and fauna of the reserve.

This video from Israel says about itself:

4 December 2014

TEL AVIV — 600,000 gallons of crude oil leaked from a breached pipeline in southern Israel on Thursday in what officials said was one of the worst environmental disasters in the country’s history. …

The spill covered an area five miles in length in the Beer Ora region of Eilat, [Israeli official] Samet told NBC News, adding: “We are talking about 3,000 cubes of raw oil that was spilled, which is the equivalent to three million liters [about 660,000 gallons].” It leaked into rivers and streams and appeared to have flooded part of the Evrona nature reserve, a statement from the Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection said, but it had been prevented from reaching the nearby Jordanian border. “A full clean-up and rehabilitation will take a few years,” Samet said. “We can call this a natural disaster that is causing huge damage to the environment. We are talking about one of the biggest natural disasters Israel has experienced.”

Israeli daily Haaretz writes today:

Evrona Nature Reserve, one of the most important reserves in the Arava, is home to a large deer population and the northernmost douma palm trees in the world.

Probably, ‘douma palm’ should be doum palm.