Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison wants to deploy three thousand reservists to put an end to the gigantic forest fires that have been ravaging his country since November. In addition, 20 million Australian dollars (approximately 12.5 million euros) are allocated to rent four extra firefighting aircraft.
Morrison also sends one of the largest Australian amphibious transport ships, the HMAS Adelaide, to beaches on the Australian east coast. Thousands of people have to be evacuated because they were trapped by the flames.
“This decision brings more feet to the ground, more planes in the sky and more ships in the sea,” said Morrison.
The prime minister recently received a lot of criticism from eastern states in the country. Residents believe that Morrison did not make the cut quickly enough to fight the forest fires. More than four million hectares of nature would have been lost.
First evacuees on land near Melbourne
Earlier, Morrison deployed five helicopters and two other naval ships to save residents. The first evacuees arrived in the night from Friday to Saturday near Melbourne. These are dozens of people who have been taken from the beach at Mallacoota, where an estimated four thousand people are sheltered.
Another thousand evacuees are expected later on Saturday after a boat trip of more than twenty hours.
At least 23 people have already died in the meantime. Saturday morning (local time) firefighters found two bodies in the middle of a blaze on Kangaroo Island.
New weekend with temperatures up to 47 degrees at east coast Australia
This weekend the forest fires are expected to further increase. Extremely hot temperatures are expected, far above 40 degrees, accompanied by significant amounts of wind.
The Australian government advised just like last weekend again over one hundred thousand people in the state of Victoria to leave their homes as quickly as possible.
The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave an adjusted Thursday travel advice out for Australia. Tourists should avoid popular places like Sydney and the state of New South Wales for the time being because of the heavy forest fires, the ministry said.
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An Australian fire brigade mourns the death of a fireman. (Photo: Reuters)
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