Australia fire rages amid arson attacks
Güncelleme Tarihi:
AFP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 12, 2009 00:00
YEA, Australia - Australian police investigated fresh arson attacks and looting yesterday as angry survivors pressed for access to towns devastated by wildfires that continue to burn across vast areas.
Victoria state Premier John Brumby said there was "little doubt" that several fires had been deliberately lit overnight in the state where at least 181 people - and possibly more than 200 - died in blazes on the weekend. "I think words escape us all when it comes to describing that deliberate arson," he said.
State police commissioner Christine Nixon said investigators were closing in on an arsonist blamed for lighting a fire in the Gippsland region, in the state's east.
As police continue the largest arson investigation in Australia's history, firefighters raised concerns about looters picking through the remains of abandoned properties in a disaster zone about the size of Luxembourg.
"We have had some reports of looting and certainly some (firefighting) volunteers and citizens who have told us that they have seen strange people in their neighborhoods," Nixon said.
Thousands of firefighters are battling to save communities still threatened by 23 wildfires raging across farms and tinder-dry bushland in the southeast of the country.
Country Fire Authority, or CFA Deputy Chief Fire Officer Steve Warrington said the Thompson Reservoir in the Upper Yarra Valley, a major catchment for Melbourne city's water supply, could come under threat.
State police commissioner Christine Nixon said investigators were closing in on an arsonist blamed for lighting a fire in the Gippsland region, in the state's east.
As police continue the largest arson investigation in Australia's history, firefighters raised concerns about looters picking through the remains of abandoned properties in a disaster zone about the size of Luxembourg.
"We have had some reports of looting and certainly some (firefighting) volunteers and citizens who have told us that they have seen strange people in their neighborhoods," Nixon said.
Thousands of firefighters are battling to save communities still threatened by 23 wildfires raging across farms and tinder-dry bushland in the southeast of the country.
Country Fire Authority, or CFA Deputy Chief Fire Officer Steve Warrington said the Thompson Reservoir in the Upper Yarra Valley, a major catchment for Melbourne city's water supply, could come under threat.