More than 30,000 tourists in Australia who refused to evacuate an area east of Melbourne amid raging bushfires are now ‘trapped’ after locals warned earlier that staying would be ‘suicide’.
Hundreds of blazes are burning across Australia, which is experiencing a devastating summer bushfire season fueled by a prolonged drought and climate change.
Hundreds of thousands were told to evacuate Victoria state’s popular East Gippsland region on Sunday amid fears soaring temperatures and gusting winds would stoke three large blazes, cutting off the last major road still open.
Emergencies chief Andrew Crisp told residents and holidaymakers to leave by 9am Monday or risk getting stranded, before giving an update later in the day saying it is now ‘too late’ to get out safely.
Read the rest and see the pics here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7835431/Tourists-REFUSE-evacuate-Australian-wine-region-bushfires-cut-road-out.html