SOMERVILLE – The first of thousands of residents and vacationers stranded on a beach in southeastern Australia have landed near Melbourne on Saturday morning after a 20-hour journey by ship.
They were rescued from Mallacoota where around 4,000 people fled to the waterfront on New Year’s Eve as fires ripped through the town in one of the communities worst hit by wildfires.
Bushfires have killed 21 people so far since September and destroyed over five-million hectares (13-million acres) of land.
A much bigger ship, carrying around 1,000 people, is due to arrive in the afternoon, with buses lined up to ferry evacuees to the local recreation center and Melbourne’s convention center.(Reuters)
