Australian Bushfire Death Toll May Hit 300; Police Probe Arson

[tekisui]

Source: Bloomberg

Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The death toll from Australia’s deadliest bushfires may reach 300, officials said, as police probe whether the blaze in the worst-hit town of Marysville was lit deliberately.

At least 181 people are confirmed dead in the wildfires sweeping through Victoria state and the coroner is prepared for as many as 300 bodies, Police Commissioner Christine Nixon told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

“We are going house by house, street by street to search for bodies,” Nixon told the ABC’s Lateline program yesterday. Authorities believe “there are clearly more people who have died in this fire.”

The bushfires destroyed four major towns and dozens of hamlets, razing more than 1,000 houses and leaving 4,200 people homeless, according to the Country Fire Authority. As many as 100 of the 500 residents of Marysville, a town 60 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of the state capital, Melbourne, may have died and authorities view that fire as suspicious, Nixon said.

“The direction it came from, the pace it came with, all of those things are a part of the way we investigate a fire,” Nixon told the ABC. “Part of the concerns about Marysville is that it was just unexplained.”

Road blocks are set up around the town to prevent anyone except authorities from entering. Bodies are still being removed from buildings and being identified, Victorian Premier John Brumby said yesterday.

more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=agAyZlvZ85yE&refer=australia

[malaise]

1. Too sad

What a tragedy.

[Jamastiene]

2. Whoever started those fires...

I hope they catch them and then never let them out of prison.