Carmel death toll rises to 44 with passing of firefighter

Firefighter Danny Hayat who was critically injured in the Carmel fire two weeks ago died at Haifa's Rambam Hospital Saturday from his wounds, raising the number of killed in the fire to 44. He was a commander in the Emek Yizrael firefighting service.Hayat had sustained burns on over 50 percent of his body and lungs. Doctors had attempted to implant artificial leather skin on his body in the two weeks he was in the hospital. The procedure did not succeed.RELATED:‘She waited to make sure the fires were out’Funerals held across the country for fire victimsHayat, 35, was among the first of the firemen who arrived at the bus-load of prison wardens that burned on the first day of the fire. He leaves behind two children and a pregnant wife.Hayat will be laid to rest in the Afula cemetery at 2 p.m. on Sunday.Forty-four people lost their lives in the blaze, including 36 Israel Prison Service members, several police officers and fire service members and a fire volunteer.Thirty-six members of the Prison Service – the majority of whom were new recruits  – had been dispatched to the Damon Prison near Kibbutz Bet Oren to assist in the evacuation of some 500 prisoners from the facility. The bus however never made it to its destination. It traveled from Atlit to the prison via the winding, mountainous single lane Route 721, before suddenly becoming engulfed in flames, leaving no survivors on board.