AT LEAST 108 people have been killed and more than 700 homes lost in the most devastating bush fires Australia has ever seen.
Fires engulfed entire towns and many were still raging out of control last night in the state of Victoria, where the deaths occurred.
Hospitals were inundated with people suffering from burns, some of whom are so severely injured they are not expected to survive.
The remains of charred cars littered smouldering towns yesterday, some crumbled heaps after crashing into each other as their drivers frantically tried to escape the fire.
The fires followed several days of temperatures above 40 degrees. The fire tore through 210,000 hectares north of Victoria’s capital Melbourne, where in Kinglake alone about 550 homes were destroyed.
Jay Cherie from Kinglake Central told ABC radio her family had no warning of what was to come. “My husband came running into the house and said: ‘Grab the kids, grab the cat, we’ve got to get out’,” she said. We knew straight away our home was gone . . .
“We had fire coming in on the right-hand side of us on a paddock and we had houses to the left of us on fire. No one knew what was going to happen. My little girl was saying to me, ‘Mum, am I going to see my friends again?’
“She also said to me, ‘Mum, am I going to live tomorrow?’”
The town of Marysville, 100km northeast of Melbourne, was reported to be completely destroyed. About 100,000 hectares were engulfed after two fires merged.
Local man Bruce Morrow said at least five people died in Marysville. He and his family lost all their possessions, including their house and business. His daughter’s primary school was also destroyed. “Our lives will never ever be the same again,” he said.
Victoria’s premier John Brumby said the death toll was likely to rise. “Out there it has been hell on Earth. It is one of the most tragic events in Victoria’s history.”
Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd visited some of the areas most affected by the bush fires yesterday and announced a Aus$10 million (€5 million) relief fund and launched a public appeal for donations.
“This government will be behind these communities. I fear in the days ahead, though, the news is going to be bad and I believe the nation needs to prepare itself as the full facts become known,” he said.
“All the resources as required by the Victorian authorities from the Australian defence forces will be provided, wherever that is, whichever community that is . . . Some of these communities don’t have anything left,” Mr Rudd said.
Several of the fires across Australia’s southern states were lit by arsonists. A 31-year-old man was charged yesterday with starting a bush fire on the New South Wales central coast.
The premier of south Australia, Mike Rann, warned people to be vigilant against arsonists. “These people are terrorists within our nation, they are the enemy within and we have to be increasingly vigilant about them,” he said.