Church bells rang throughout Australia on Sunday in remembrance of the victims of last month’s devastating fires that killed 209 people.
In a nationally televised memorial, a somber Prime Minister Kevin Rudd praised the resilience of Australians and offered a message of hope. “As a people, we weep for the lost,” he said. “We tend the injured. We console the suffering. And yet, our work has barely begun.” “(For) what we saw on Black Saturday, what we saw at work was the worst of nature, yet the best of humanity,” he added. Australians throughout the nation laid wreaths, sang and prayed in remembrance of victims. “We are picking up the pieces after the worst disaster in Australia’s history,” said John Brumby, the premier of Victoria, where last month’s fire charred thousands of acres of land. “These fires have united all in grief.” The fires have destroyed more than 1,800 homes and displaced about 7,000 people. At the height of the blazes, about three dozen separate fires were burning.
