In what is being called one of the most serious pollution disasters in Israel’s history, millions of litres of crude oil have gushed out of a pipeline, flooding a nature reserve north of the Red Sea resort of Eilat.

An accident during maintenance work reportedly caused the spill.

Several people were taken to hospital after inhaling oil fumes.

“Crude oil flowed throughout the reserve, causing serious damage … to flora and fauna,” Environment Ministry official Guy Samet told Israel Radio on Thursday.

“Rehabilitation will take months, if not years .. This is one of the State of Israel’s gravest pollution events. We are still having trouble gauging the full extent of the contamination.”