Australian deadliest bushfire death toll at 128

Source: Xinhua | 02-09-2009 13:10

CANBERRA, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Australian police said on Monday the death toll from Victoria's bushfires is now 128 and could top 200 as authorities sift through the piles of ash that were once entire communities.

More than 70 of those people died in the fires in Kinglake, 80 km north of Melbourne, which has burnt through 220,000 hectares of the central highlands.

All fire-devastated areas will be treated as crime scenes to determine if arson was involved, Victorian Police Commissioner Christine Nixon said, according to a report by Australian Associated Press.

The fires are Australia's worst natural disaster by far: worse than Ash Wednesday bushfire which killed 71 in 1983.

There are so many bodies. Many don't even look like bodies and will require the attentions of specialized police Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) teams.

More than 750 houses have been destroyed and 330,000 hectares have been burnt.

There are 31 fires still raging throughout Victoria after record heat and wild winds set the state ablaze on Saturday.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei