Fire continued to ravage across southern Australia Tuesday, threatening local communities and killing at least 181 so far. More than 900 homes were destroyed in the blaze, making it the country's worst bushfire disaster in history.
|
|
Fire continued to ravage across southern Australia Tuesday, threatening local communities and killing at least 181 so far. [Xinhua]
|
The fires, which started from Feb. 7 and have affected an area of more than 3,000 sq km so far, also left hundreds of people homeless and up to 7,000 survivors have registered for assistance with the Red Cross.
Firefighters are battling 25 bushfires across Victoria state Tuesday. Urgent threat messages have been issued in some localities and local residents were told to be on high alert.
The state's Premier John Brumby said he expected the death toll from the disaster to exceed 200 as dozens of people killed in the Victorian bushfires still have not been identified.
ABC News quoted Country Fire Authority operations Manager David Harrison as saying that overall fire conditions have eased Tuesday, as "there has been some good construction of control lines."
However, strong southerly winds, record heat and drought continued to pose a risk of flare-ups.
Enormous relief effort continued Tuesday across Australia. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced Tuesday that the Australian government will provide another 5 million Australian dollars (3.36 million U.S. dollars) to help those affected by the fires and flooding in north Queensland.
He said money from the economic stimulus plan will go to Victoria and Queensland as a top priority, adding that the two states will be able to draw on their share of the stimulus plan for public housing and schools.
The federal government committed 10 million dollars in assistance to victims of the disaster on Monday.
In addition, Mr. Brumby on Monday launched the 2009 Victoria Bushfire Fund in partnership with the Red Cross and the federal government to assist individuals and communities affected by the devastating wildfire in Victoria state.
A statement from the Australian Red Cross said as at 7 p.m. Tuesday, the fund has received 30.4 million Australian dollars from over 166,000 website and phone donations.