Bush fires tear through eastern Australia, leaving at least three dead and 150 homes razed
- At least seven people were unaccounted for in New South Wales state, and firefighters said the number of missing and dead could rise
- On Saturday morning, there were 72 bush fires still raging, including 18 out-of-control ones and six at emergency warning level, the fire service said
Firefighters located the remains of one man in a burnt-out vehicle near Glen Innes, some 550 kilometres north of Sydney, said Shane Fitzsimmons, the Commissioner of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service (RFS) on Saturday.
A woman was rescued by firefighters in the same blaze in an unrelated incident but later died in hospital, Fitzsimmons said on Saturday, adding that at least seven people remained unaccounted for and that the number of missing and dead could rise.
“We can’t rule out the really grave concerns that there could be more losses or indeed more fatalities as we get through and identify details across these fire grounds,” he told reporters in Sydney.
Around 1,500 firefighters were battling 70 fires across Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, with the most intense in the northeast where flames were fanned by strong winds, Fitzsimmons said.