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Australian bushfires kill 130, dozens more missing
Mon Feb 9, 2009 1:44am EST
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By Simone Giuliani
WHITTLESEA, Australia (Reuters) - Weary firefighters and rescuers pulled the remains of dozens of people from charred buildings on Monday as the death toll rose to 130 from southern Australia's deadliest bushfires.
"Everybody's gone. Everybody's gone. Everybody. Their houses are gone. They're all dead in the houses there. Everybody's dead," cried Christopher Harvey, a survivor from Kinglake where most people were killed, as he walked through the town.
Police believe some of the fires, which razed rural towns near the country's second biggest city, Melbourne, were deliberately lit and declared one devastated town a crime scene.
"There are no words to describe it other than mass murder," Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told local television.
"These numbers (dead) are numbing ... and I fear they will rise further," he added.
The bushfires are the country's worst natural disaster in more than a century, and will put pressure on Rudd to deliver a broad new climate policy.
One massive bushfire tore through several towns on Saturday night, destroying everything in its path. Many people died in cars trying to flee the inferno and others were killed huddled in their homes, yet some escaped by taking cover in swimming pools or farm reservoirs or hiding in their cellar.
The inferno was as tall as a four-storey building at one stage and was sparking spot fires 40 km (25 miles) ahead of itself as the strong winds blew hot embers in its path.
"It's going to look like Hiroshima, I tell you. It's going to look like a nuclear bomb. There are animals dead all over the road," survivor Chris Harvey told local media.
More than 750 houses were destroyed and some 78 people, with serious burns and injuries, are in hospital.
Many patients had burns to more than 30 percent of their bodies and some injuries were worse than the Bali bombings in 2002, said one doctor at a hospital emergency department.
CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY
Wildfires are a natural annual event in Australia, but this year a combination of scorching weather, drought and tinder-dry bush has created prime conditions.
The fires, and major floods in the Queensland in the north, will put pressure on Rudd who is due to deliver a new climate policy in May. Green politicians are citing the extreme weather to back a tougher climate policy.
Scientists say Australia, with its harsh environment, is set to be one nations most affected nations by climate change. Continued...
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