Human remains found as bushfires continue to ravage Australia

Human remains have been discovered in Australia's southeast, police confirmed on Sunday, as devastating bushfires continue to rage for days. The infernos have already destroyed numerous buildings, left thousands of homes without power, and scorched vast tracts of bushland across the region.

These uncontrolled blazes, exacerbated by a summer heatwave, have consumed over 350,000 hectares (860,000 acres) of bushland across Victoria state since the middle of the week. More than 300 structures, including residential properties, have been obliterated, plunging thousands into darkness.

Authorities have warned that these are the most severe fires to hit the southeast since the catastrophic 2019-2020 Black Summer blazes, which devastated an area the size of Turkey and claimed 33 lives.

The human remains were found by a vehicle near the town of Longwood, some 110 km (70 miles) north of the state capital Melbourne, Victoria police said in a statement, adding that the victim was not yet identified.

That fire, one of the largest burning on Sunday, has already destroyed properties, vineyards and agricultural land.

Victoria's premier, Jacinta Allan, said more than 30 fires were burning across the state. In neighbouring New South Wales, which includes Sydney, several fires close to the Victorian border were burning at the highest danger rating, the state's Rural Fire Service said.

The chief fire officer of Forest Fire Management Victoria, Chris Hardman, said it would likely take firefighters weeks to get the upper hand on the fires.

"These fires will not be contained before it gets hot, dry and windy again," Hardman told Australian Broadcasting Corporation television.

Allan posted on X that a total fire ban was in place for Victoria as thousands of firefighters and more than 70 aircraft battled the blazes.

"Bushfire smoke is impacting air quality in many areas across Victoria, including metropolitan Melbourne," she said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the federal government would offer emergency funding to bushfire-hit residents as well as to farmers, who had the "extraordinary cost of undertaking immediate and emergency livestock fodder distribution".

"It's estimated that thousands of head of cattle are likely to have been impacted," Albanese said in televised remarks.