SYDNEY, Feb 17 (Reuters) – The death toll in Australia’s bushfire tragedy reached 200 on Tuesday as police continued their searches in the Southern State of Victoria which was wiped out by the blazes.

Christine Nixon, Victoria State Police Commissioner, has launched the nation’s biggest arson investigation to have assurance to catch anyone who started the fire.

“The toll has risen from 189 to 200,” a police spokeswoman told Reuters, but declined to give any more detail of where bodies of more victims were found.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has described this tragedy as a “mass murder”. A man has been charged with “arson causing death” over one of the deadly bushfires, which killed 21 people.

In Victoria, arson carries a jail term of two to 15 years, and 25 years if there’s loss of life.