Australian Mega Wildfire Crisis Deploys Warships... 1,000 Residents and Tourists Evacuated

Satellite image of the southeastern coast of Australia covered in smoke due to wildfires / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Lim Juhyung] As large wildfires sweep through southeastern Australia, the New South Wales (NSW) state government has declared a state of emergency, and naval ships have been deployed to evacuate local residents.

According to the BBC on the 3rd (local time), the Royal Australian Navy deployed two naval ships to evacuate more than 1,000 residents and tourists stranded in the town of Mallacoota, Australia, to Western Port in southern Victoria.

The media reported that the Australian Navy transported about 60 residents by helicopter and moved over 1,000 people by boat.

It is reported that about 4,000 residents and tourists who fled the flames have gathered on Mallacoota Beach.

Earlier, on the 2nd, the NSW state government declared a state of emergency to cope with the wildfires. This is the third state of emergency in the past three months, following those in November and December last year.

Since September last year, wildfires have continued in Australia, resulting in more than 18 deaths so far. The affected area has reached 12 million acres (about 49,000 km²), and hundreds of millions of wildlife are threatened.

Accordingly, the NSW Rural Fire Service has also expanded the evacuation order for nearby tourists to 14,000 km².

In this regard, Shane Fitzsimmons, head of the NSW Rural Fire Service, expressed concern in an interview with the Australian public broadcaster ABC News, saying, "Seven people have died and thousands have been affected by the disaster," and "The situation could become more severe than the wildfire crisis on the 31st of last month."