SYDNEY (AFP): Thousands of tourists have been given less than 48 hours to evacuate fire-ravaged coastal communities as Australia braces for a weekend heatwave expected to fan deadly bushfires. Catastrophic blazes ripped through the country’s south-east on New Year’s Eve, killing at least eight people and stranding holidaymakers.
The New South Wales (NSW) Rural Fire Service on Thursday (Jan 2) declared a “tourist leave zone” stretching about 200km from the popular holiday spot of Batemans Bay along the picturesque coast to neighbouring Victoria state, where people are also being urged to flee.
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