Australia's bushfire-stricken state pays tribute to 25 victims

New South Wales Rural Fire Service personnel attend a state memorial honouring victims of the Australian bushfires at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, February 23, 2020. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Families, firefighters and politicians gathered in a solemn public ceremony in Sydney on Sunday to honour the 25 people killed in recent bushfires that tore through the country's most populous state.

The bushfires, which lasted from September until torrential rains hit earlier this month, killed 33 people and a billion native animals nationally and destroyed 2,500 homes and a wilderness area the size of South Korea.