Phoenix rises as bushfires abate

Australian police combed through a blackened landscape searching for clues in the hunt for possible arsonists yesterday as the death toll from the nation's worst bushfires looked likely to top 200.

Victoria state Police Commissioner Christine Nixon launched the nation's biggest arson investigation, dubbed "Operation Phoenix", vowing to catch anyone who started a blaze.

The bushfires, which swept through Victoria on Saturday night, were "suspicious" because there were no natural events such as lightning that would have sparked the blazes, police said.