The bad news from this disaster gets worse every day. The Guardian:
Several towns were under imminent threat of being consumed by bushfires today, as the suspected death toll in Australia's biggest natural disaster topped 230.
The premier of Victoria state, John Brumby, said the devastation was far from over and warned Australians to brace themselves for the number of confirmed dead, which stands at 181, to rise "steeply". More than 50 people were unaccounted for and believed to be dead, he said.
While police continued to recover charred corpses from homes and vehicles, a team of 100 detectives was formed to hunt the arsonists. Officers from Taskforce Phoenix said they were "closing in" on one suspect who is believed to have started the Gippsland blazes in which 21 people died.
The prime minister, Kevin Rudd, told of the "grave urgency" in tackling the problem of arson. "This is simply murder on a grand scale," he said.
More stories of some of those killed began to emerge yesterday. Nine-year-old Neeve Buchanan died huddled with her brother and two friends in her grandmother's home. Rob and Natasha Davey, their daughters Jorja, three, and six-month-old baby Alexis were found incinerated in their car. Minutes earlier, Mr Davey had sent a text message to his friend with a photograph of the fire in the distance, the Melbourne Age reported.
When his friend rang to check on them, he heard Mrs Davey screaming: "We're going! Fire." Then the phone went dead.
Elaine and Len Postlethwaite, who were married for 48 years, were arguing about whether they should flee or stay to fight the fire. In the end, Mrs Postlethwaite stormed off, reaching safety while her husband stayed sitting on the porch. He was engulfed by flames shortly afterwards.
