The wildfires that tore across the southern state of Victoria in Australia now appear to have been deliberately set, changing them from a natural tragedy to arson, and perhaps more.
The death toll in the Australian wildfires has risen to 130, and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said:
"What do you say about anyone like that? There's no words to describe it, other than it's mass murder."
Anyone found guilty of lighting a wildfire that causes death faces 25 years in prison in Victoria.
Two have already been charged with arson, but neither in connection with any fire that caused loss of life.
A 31-year-old man accused of setting a fire that burnt through 495 acres in Peats Ridge on the New South Wales central coast was due in court on Monday, while a 15-year-old boy who allegedly set an explosive (firecracker / M80?) that started a small fire in the Blue Mountains near Sydney on Sunday was released on bail.
Meanwhile, Premier Colin Barnett said that Western Australia’s arson laws are likely to be toughened as a result of not just the current fires, but of other incidents of arson that have occurred recently.
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