CANBERRA (Xinhua) -- Australian police said the death toll from Victoria's bushfires by Monday afternoon reached 131 and could top 200 as authorities sift through the piles of ash that were once entire communities.
The fires have now claimed 33 people in the small hamlet of Kinglake and nine in Kinglake West. Ten people have now been confirmed dead at nearby Marysville.
New deaths have been reported at Narbethong where eight people died and Yarra Glen which has one fatality. The toll for St Andrews has been revised down from 10 to six.
Authorities are being warned to expect a toll of 230, "The Australian" newspaper quoted sources inside state emergency meetings as saying.
Fires were still burning out of control and putting towns at risk in the Beechworth and Yackandandah regions in the state's northeast. Shortly after 4 p.m. (AEDT) a third town, Toolangai, was also put on alert.
All fire-devastated areas will be treated as crime scenes to determine if arson was involved, Victorian Police Commissioner Christine Nixon said, according to a report by Australian Associated Press.
The fires are Australia's worst natural disaster by far: worse than Ash Wednesday bushfire which killed 71 in 1983.
More than 750 houses have been destroyed and 330,000 hectares have been burnt.
There are 31 fires still raging throughout Victoria after record heat and wild winds set the state ablaze on Saturday.
-.philstar
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