Wildfire toll reaches 200

MELBOURNE // Police say the confirmed death toll from Australia's deadly wildfires has reached 200 and will rise further. The grim milestone was passed today after investigators confirmed 11 more people had died in one of more than 400 fires that raged across southern Victoria state on Feb 7. More than 1,800 homes were destroyed in the fires, which scorched more than 3,900 square kilometres of farms, forests and towns. Victoria police said in a statement the new deaths were from a fire that razed the town of Kinglake and surrounding areas. A spokesman for the police, Marty Beveridge, said the death count would go higher as more remains are identified.

*AP