Death toll from Australian wildfire reaches 100

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Police say the death toll from wildfires in Australia has risen to at least 108, making it the country’s worst fire disaster.

Authorities said the toll would climb higher as they reached further into a huge zone of southern Victoria state that was devastated by scores of blazes during intense heat and strong winds on Saturday.

Officials said they had confirmed some 700 homes had been destroyed in the fires that in some cases have razed entire towns.

Victoria police spokeswoman Rebecca Fraser said the latest death toll is 108.

Australia’s then-deadliest fires were in 1983, when blazes killed 75 people and destroyed more than 3,000 homes in Victoria and South Australia.