SYDNEY, Feb 20 – The death toll in the worst wildfires in Australia’s history has risen to 209, according to police.

The revised toll includes one additional death in the badly-hit area of Kinglake, where a total 38 people are now believed to have perished.

“Victoria (state) police can now confirm that 209 people have died as a result of bushfires across the state, task force had been established to investigate the causes and circumstances of all fires” a spokeswoman said.

Police have said some were started deliberately — and another team was working to identify victims as quickly as possible. They said earlier this week they did not expect the toll to go much higher than 200 as they believed the bodies of those people listed as missing had been located.

Whole story can be found at Channel News Asia