96 Confirmed Dead So Far In Australian Bushfires - AFP

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At least 96 people were killed and entire towns razed in the worst wildfire disaster in Australian history, described by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Sunday as "hell in all its fury."

People died in their cars as they attempted to escape the inferno -- smouldering wrecks on roads outside this town told a tale of horror -- while others were burnt to death in their homes.

While the deadly fires and a heatwave raged in southeast Australia, floods from torrential rains claimed lives in the north, with one victim a five-year-old boy feared snatched by a crocodile as he walked his dog.

The death toll from the fires jumped from 84 to 96 early Monday, the Australian Associated Press said, quoting police. But there were fears it could rise yet further as medics treated badly burned survivors and emergency crews made it through to more than 700 houses destroyed by the fires, some of which have been blamed on arsonists.

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