Australia and Oceania

Tourists at risk as heatwave fuels Australia bushfires

Sydney, Australia (AFP) — Thousands of tourists risked being stranded in Australia’s south east Monday, as a new heatwave left firefighters across the country bracing for another round of potentially catastrophic bushfire. Hundreds of blazes are burning across Australia, which is experiencing a devastating summer bushfire season fueled by a prolonged drought and climate change. More than 30,000 people were told to evacuate Victoria state’s popular East Gippsland region Sunday amid fears soaring temperatures and gusting winds […]

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Tourists, firefighters flee as new heatwave fans Australia blazes

by Holly ROBERTSON Agence France Presse Tourists and firefighters were forced to flee vast fires burning in southeastern Australia on Monday, as a heatwave rekindled devastating bush blazes across the country. Authorities said “quite a number” of the 30,000 tourists visiting the usually picturesque southeast tip of the continent had heeded calls to evacuate. More than a dozen blazes are raging in the East Gippsland countryside, some so intensely that hundreds of firefighters were pulled […]

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Nearly 2,000 evacuated, one missing as ‘scary’ cyclone hammers Fiji

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — Nearly 2,000 people took refuge in emergency shelters and one man was missing after being swept away in floodwaters as Tropical Cyclone Sarai pounded Fiji on Saturday causing widespread damage. National Disaster Management Office Director Vasiti Soko urged locals and the thousands of tourists in Fiji not to be reckless as Sarai lashed the Pacific island nation with heavy rain and destructive winds. With wind gusts strengthening to 150 kilometres […]

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New Zealand volcano death toll rises to 19

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) —  The death toll from New Zealand’s devastating White Island eruption has risen to 19, with police confirming Monday another death in hospital. The toll includes two people whose bodies have not been recovered. A police spokesman said they were informed that a person had died late Sunday in an Auckland hospital. There were 47 people, mainly Australian tourists, on the island when it erupted on December 9, and 25 remain […]

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Under pressure Australia PM visits beleaguered firefighters

  by Andrew Beatty  SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited firefighters battling Australia’s bushfire crisis on Sunday as he apologized for a Hawaiian holiday that ended early after public outrage. Morrison toured the headquarters of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service — whose exhausted volunteers have been struggling to contain deadly, out-of-control-blazes for months on end — where he admitted he had erred in travelling overseas. Morrison had departed for a […]

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State of emergency as bushfires rage in Australia

  by Daniel DE CARTERET Agence France Presse BUXTON, Australia (AFP) — A state of emergency was declared in Australia’s most populated region on Thursday as an unprecedented heatwave fanned out-of-control bushfires, destroying homes and smothering huge areas with a toxic smoke. As thousands of firefighters battled blazes, temperatures neared 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in some places and authorities warned the extreme weather conditions could get even worse. Australia endures bushfires every year […]

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New Zealand observes silence as PM warns of long volcano probe

  WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand marked one week since the deadly White Island eruption with a minute’s silence Monday, as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern warned grieving families they face a lengthy wait for answers. At 2:11pm (0111 GMT) — exactly a week since the eruption — offices and shops fell silent as New Zealanders remembered the 16 international tourists and two local guides who died, along with at least 18 more now […]

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New Zealand eruption death toll rises to 18

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — The death toll from New Zealand’s White Island volcano eruption rose to 18 Sunday, including two people whose bodies have not been recovered, police said. A land search early Sunday failed to find any sign of the missing pair and divers returned to the sea in the afternoon amid increasing speculation both could be in the water. Deputy police commissioner Mike Clement said there was “every chance” the bodies had […]

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New Zealand volcano still too dangerous to remove bodies

WHAKATANE, New Zealand (AFP) — The smoldering New Zealand volcano that killed at least six people is still too dangerous for emergency teams to recover bodies from, police said Wednesday, warning that many tourists who escaped the island were so badly burned they were not yet out of danger. The official death toll after Monday’s explosion on White Island climbed to six late Tuesday when another victim died in hospital. The bodies of eight more people […]

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Toxic bushfire haze blankets eastern Australia

  by Andrew BEATTY / with Daniel de Carteret in Gosford Agence France Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Toxic haze blanketed Sydney Tuesday triggering a chorus of smoke alarms to ring across the city and forcing school children inside, as “severe” weather conditions fuelled deadly bush blazes along Australia’s east coast. Fire engines raced office-to-office in the city centre with sirens blaring, as inland bushfires poured smoke laden with toxic particles into commercial buildings. Emergency […]

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No more survivors on New Zealand island after volcano eruption

  by Neil SANDS / with Holly Robertson in Sydney Agence France Presse WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand police have said no more survivors were expected to be rescued from an island volcano that erupted suddenly on Monday, suggesting as many as two dozen people could have died. Police said some 50 people were visiting White Island when it exploded in the early afternoon — hurling ash and rock high into the air. […]

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One critically injured as popular New Zealand volcano erupts

by Neil SANDS WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — At least one person was left in a critical condition when New Zealand’s White Island volcano erupted suddenly on Monday, leaving authorities scrambling to treat the injured and find those unaccounted for. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the volcanic island — also known as Whakaari — off New Zealand’s north coast had erupted while groups of tourists were visiting. “It is very much an evolving situation and […]

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