TIL Desk/World/Sydney/ Thousands of holidaymakers and locals were trapped on a beach in fire-ravaged southeast Australia on Tuesday, as blazes ringed a popular tourist area leaving no escape by land.
As many as four thousand people are trapped on the foreshore of the encircled seaside town of Mallacoota, as smoke turned day to night and the authorities said nearby fires were causing extreme thunderstorms and “ember attacks”.
“We”ve got a fire that looks like it”s about to impact on Mallacoota,” Victoria”s Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp told, adding that firefighters have been deployed to protect the group.
Authorities had for days been warning up to 30,000 tourists enjoying Australia”s summer holidays to leave the area, which is just one of the hundreds ravaged by this devastating bushfire season. “We”ve got three strike teams in Mallacoota that will be looking after 4,000 people down on the beach there,” Crisp said.
