More victims found in Vic bushfire areas

If the scale of the task facing bushfire investigators wasn't already obvious, Victoria's coroner has revealed that the remains of more victims have been found in areas previously searched.

Several sets of remains were recovered late on Friday by forensic experts scouring
fire sites in Marysville, Kinglake and Hazeldene, north of Kinglake.
The discoveries prompted coroner Jennifer Coate to order a tightening of security at
bushfire-ravaged sites, two weeks after the Black Saturday firestorms swept through
several areas of the state, killing at least 209 people.
Police said it was too early to determine exactly how many people the remains
belonged to, but it was enough for Ms Coate to order that many sites be thoroughly
searched for a second time.
"To properly ensure for families that we are able to produce for them the answers
that they need and their loved ones returned to them as best we can, it became clear
that what we needed to do is preserve those sites to enable police to complete this
extraordinary and complex task of the searches of those fire-affected areas where
tragically people have perished," she told reporters on Saturday.
"The fact that the re-search (re-search) has given us further evidence doesn't for a
moment cast any shadow over the extraordinary job that the searchers have done to
date.
"It's an incredibly complex scene, it's unprecedented.
"Such is the level of expertise that exists among the range of scientific areas that
are working with us ... that even the smallest piece of evidence may assist us in
giving families confirmation that they need, rather than leave these questions
unanswered for them for all time.
"If we don't preserve the scenes in this way to ensure that we've given us the best
opportunity to give them (the families) the answers that they need, we will lose
that opportunity."
Ms Coate said she could not confirm whether the new findings would add to the
overall death toll.
Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said it was difficult to
underestimate the size and scale of the task to identify the remains and establish
the number and identity of victims who may still be missing.
"We're talking of an area of 250,000 square kilometres. There's a lot of people
living in that area," Mr Walshe said.
"As the coroner explained, the (new) powers ... enable police to be able to go back
and re-search those areas, it prevents the owners of the properties from starting
any clean-up, removing any rubble of destroyed houses until such time as the police
are satisfied that area has been thoroughly searched.
"This has been a disaster above all proportions that this state has ever experienced
before.
"To have such fires go through areas, for 209 people to lose their lives, to 10,000
people to be out of home, to have over 1,800 houses destroyed - it's been a massive
task for all emergency services to deal with."
The latest findings come as tens of thousands of people prepare to descend on
central Melbourne to mourn the victims of Victoria's deadly bushfires.
Hundreds of survivors will be shuttled into the city from fire-ravaged rural towns
for a memorial service at Rod Laver Arena.
The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, and other dignitaries will attend the ceremony,
officially known as the National Day of Mourning, Together for Victoria.
Emergency services were working in mild conditions on Saturday to fortify existing
control lines and ramp up back-burning operations around the four remaining
bushfires.
The four super blazes - the Kilmore East-Murrindindi North and South complexes, the
Bunyip State Park and Wilson's Promontory fires - continue to burn out of control,
though authorities said there was no immediate threat to nearby townships or
property, despite a forecast of hotter conditions on Monday.