Australian police reported on Monday the death toll of Victoria's bushfires was revised down from 210 to 173 after the coroner's office was finally able to classify the horrendously damaged human remains.
"The unfortunate thing is ... because of the ferocity of the fires, we will get to a point that there will be remains that cannot be formally identified," Australian Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said in a statement.
Walshe said some remains which police initially thought came from several victims were, in fact, of one person, while other remains in the initial count of 210 have now been identified as animal.
The drop in the number of victims has illustrated the extreme nature of the fires and the difficult task faced by forensic investigators in locating and identifying human remains, police was quoted by Australian Associated Press as saying.
Victoria's bushfires is the deadliest natural disaster in Australian history. More than 1,800 homes have been destroyed and more than 450,000 hectares burnt out in the bushfires which started on Feb. 7.
(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2009)
