TOI
Kinglake (Australia), Feb 12: Surviving residents of Marysville, where up to 100 more people are feared killed in Australia's bushfires, are still being kept out of town to shield them from traumatic scenes there, authorities said on Wednesday.
The rising death toll in Australia's deadliest bushfires now stands at 181, but could exceed 200, authorities say. If the Marysville deaths are confirmed, the toll may reach 300. A firefighter who drove through Marysville only 10 minutes before the firestorm hit on Saturday night said people banged on the side of his water tanker, begging his team to help people trapped in burning houses.
Victoria state premier John Brumby said Marysville, which has been off-limits since the weekend fires, would remain so because of the likelihood of ghastly sights in the once idyllic town. "There are still many deceased people in homes,” he said, adding between 50 and 100 may be dead in Marysville. If people return to those areas... and there are still deceased persons there... the impact would be quite devastating."
Forensic police sifted through ash of houses in Marysville, Kinglake and other towns razed by fires trying to identify the hundreds killed.
"You have to go street by street, house by house. There are many houses that have collapsed," said Victoria state Police Commissioner Christine Nixon, adding it would take weeks to complete the search.
Some of those killed were burned so badly by fires that reached four storeys high they may never be identified.
"In some of these cases, it will be weeks before positive identification can be made and, I'm advised by the coroner, it may be virtually impossible to officially identify the bodies," Brumby said.
The fires tore through rural towns north of Melbourne on Saturday night, fanned by strong winds and heatwave temperatures. The disaster area, more than twice the size of London and encompassing more than 20 towns north of Melbourne, has been declared a crime zone. The fires have burned 1,033 homes and left 5,000 people homeless.
More than 4,000 firefighters are still battling 33 fires in Victoria state, with 23 of those still out of control.