The death toll has risen to four as devastating bushfires continue to ravage the states of New South Wales and Queensland. Local residents discovered a body, believed to be that of a 58-year-old man, in bushland near Kempsey, NSW, just before midnight on Wednesday evening.
New South Wales Police confirmed the tragic news on Thursday, revealing that the body was found on the southern end of the Kyuna Track at Willawarrin, around 34 km from Kempsey, last night.
While the deceased has not yet been formally identified, police believe it is the body of a man who lived in a shed nearby, with police confirming that the man in question has not been seen since November 8.
“An investigation is underway after a man’s body was found in burnt-out bushland north-west of Kempsey last night,” a force spokesperson said in a statement. “A post-mortem examination will be conducted to determine the cause of death and confirm identity. A report will be prepared for the information of the Coroner.”
The man is the fourth person to have died as a result of the bushfires in NSW, after two people were confirmed dead in Wytaliba and a third body was found north of Taree over the weekend.
According to ABC News, the first confirmed victim was grandmother-of-six Vivian Chaplain, 69, who passed away in hospital on Saturday after sustaining severe burns while trying to protect her home from the flames. A man named George Nole also died near Wytaliba, with his body found in a burnt-out car.
The third victim was named by the ABC as 63-year-old Julie Fletcher whose remains were found in a burnt-out building at Johns River.
As of Thursday morning, the NSW Rural Fire Service reported that there were still 56 fires burning across the state with 24 yet to be contained. Eight of those fires remain at ‘watch and act’ level, with more than 800 firefighters still working to contain the fires.
In Queensland, as of Thursday morning, there were still 80 fires burning across the state, with QFES reporting 200 vehicles on the ground and waterbombing aircraft as they work to contain the blazes and protect the community and properties.
The main focus of QFES’ efforts on Thursday, as weather conditions improved slightly across the state, were blazes in Woodgate, Black Snake, Kilkivan, Noosa North Shore, Spicers Peak and Pechey. ‘Leave now’ alerts were issued for residents living in Noosa North Shore and Woodgate on Thursday morning.
Queensland took the brunt of the fires on Wednesday as conditions worsened across the Sunshine State, following a day of catastrophic conditions in NSW on Tuesday. As a result of bad winds, a waterbombing helicopter crashed in Pechey as it worked to douse flames in the Darling Downs yesterday.
Thankfully the pilot escaped the incident with minor injuries and it was reported that the aircraft had been just metres from the ground when it crash landed just before 2pm.