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Wildfires death toll 135

Melbourne: In what is described as Australia’s biggest inferno, the bushfires that have devoured the entire southeastern state of Victoria, have claimed at least 135 lives even as police suspect that the “hell’s fury” was “deliberately” set.

There are 31 fires still raging throughout Victoria after record heat and wild winds set the state ablaze on Saturday that wiped out families and left behind a legacy of charred homes, bodies and shattered townships.

As Prime Minister Kevin Rudd pledged to “re-build” the communities in the aftermath of the worst peacetime disaster, which he described as “hell’s fury”, heartache led to anger amid speculation that the firestorm has been deliberately lit, the Australian reported on Monday.

“What do you say about anyone like that — there are no words to describe it other than mass murder,” said Mr. Rudd after police revealed some were set by arsonists and declared all fire-devastated areas to be treated as crime scenes. Victorian Premier John Brumby confirmed there would be a Royal Commission into the wildfires, which have destroyed more than 750 houses and burnt 3,30,000 hectares. — PTI

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