The toll from the deadliest wildfires in Australia's history may surpass 200, the authorities said on Tuesday as firefighters scrambled to halt the advance of some of the blazes still threatening to devour villages in the country's southeast.
With police suspecting that some of the 400 bushfires were caused by arson, an enraged premier Kevin Rudd termed it "murder on a grand scale."
Victoria state premier John Brumby said more than 50 people were believed by the coroner to be "already deceased but not yet identified", and the final toll "would exceed 200 deaths". At present, the official toll stands at 181.
Firemen fought to save rural communities in Healesville, about 50 kilometres northeast of Melbourne, as also in Gippsland in the further east as some 24 fires still raged.
Police have formed a task force to investigate the possibility of arson and were reported to be preparing to release the sketch of at least one suspect.
"We are left speechless at the thought and the possibility that some of these fires may have been deliberately lit," premier Rudd said in Parliament.
"This is simply murder on a grand scale. Let us attend to this unfinished business of the nation and come to grips with this evil thing," he said.
He said the fires left 500 injured, over 5,000 homeless, 1,000 homes destroyed and 365,000 hectares burnt.
The rising number of bodies has forced authorities to set up a temporary morgue in Melbourne which has admitted 101 victims so far, the Victoria state coroner said.
US president Barack Obama called up Rudd to offer his condolences, the White House said. Reports said a group of US firefighters are flying to Australia to join the operations.
The bushfires were fanned by sudden wind changes and extreme heat, reports said. The blazes travelling in high speed aided by a 100 kph wind engulfed buildings and many fleeing victims were found charred in their cars.
The inferno also triggered calls for a change for the current disaster management policy followed by the authorities here, which allows residents in high-risk areas to decide whether to stay or flee rather than ordering evacuation.
"It is the application of that policy and a lack of an alternative that we need to work on," Country Fire Authority chief Russel Rees said.
Brumby said a national emergency warning system for wildfires should be considered.
