Police release photo of arson suspect (australian wildfires)

by nukegingrich | February 13, 2009 at 07:32 am

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Authorities in Victoria and NSW have been saying for days that the cause of the massive and deadly brushfires is arson. Today, Victorian police released a composite photo of the prime suspect.

Police gave warning that the death toll from the fires that ravaged Victoria state last weekend could exceed 200 as fire fighters continue to battle 30 blazes across the state.

The man in the composite photo, who police say is in his early 20s and has a dark complexion, is believed to have information about a suspicious fire at Ivanhoe East, in Melbourne’s north-east.

He was apparently seen in the area wearing black trousers, a polo shirt and yellow sunglasses and carrying a black rucksack.

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photo and lead source: Telegraph UK

Update: Police block identity of man charged with arson ...

From TimesOnline

An Australian man has been charged with arson over one of the country’s deadly bushfires, but his identity has been suppressed and police have moved him to a secret location amid fears of a backlash by victims seething with grief and anger.
The 39-year-old has been charged with lighting the Churchill-Jeeralang bushfire in the LaTrobe valley region of Gippsland. The suspect is a local man. Twenty-one people died in the eastern Victorian region where the Churchill fire began.

[snip] The arrest came as police confirmed on Friday that fires at Marysville, Murrindindi, Buxton and Narbethong were being treated as suspicious. Up to 100 people are believed to have been killed in Marysville alone.

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