Pictures: Battling the blaze

Australia's prime minister has described the situation in the state of Victoria as "hell in all its fury" [AFP]

Hundreds of homes and thousands of hectares of land have been reduced to ashes and the authorities fear the death toll could climb higher [AFP]

The blazes across two states broke out after a once-in-a-century heatwave pushed the temperature as high as 46 degrees Celsius [AFP]

Australian police have said some of the fires may even have been started deliberately [AFP]

Thousands of exhausted volunteer firefighters are backed up by troops, called in to help battle the flames [AFP]

Fierce winds have made walls of flames push in unpredictable directions [AFP]

Temperatures have dropped in the state of Victoria but the death toll is expected to rise [Reuters]

Houses destroyed by the wildfires have run into the hundreds [Reuters]

Police say they are considering parts of the disaster areas as crime scenes amid arson allegations [Reuters]