Australia fires: Death toll rises as fires sweep across three states

2019-12-21 20:34:25

One person has died and another is missing as wildfires continue to burn across three Australian states. In New South Wales, sudden southerly winds fanned the flames of more than 100 blazes and fire officials said a man who had chosen to stay at his property could no longer be contacted. Saturday had been an "awful day", NSW fire chief Shane Fitzsimmons said. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has cut short a holiday in Hawaii after being criticised for leaving amid the crisis. Earlier acting prime minister Michael McCormack conceded that more had to be done to tackle global warming, after many Australians linked the severity of this year's fires to climate change. Since September, Australia's bushfire emergency has killed at least nine people, destroyed more than 700 houses and scorched millions of hectares.