Three Australians were killed in a bushfire after becoming trapped in their trucks as they tried to flee the outback blaze in the goldfields of western Australia, police said today.
The bodies of the two adults and a child were recovered from two burnt out trucks in a national park between the towns of Southern Cross and Coolgardie in Western Australia state about midnight yesterday, a police spokesman told local media.
"One truck contained an adult body and the other truck contained an adult and what appeared to be the body of the child," the spokesman said.
Australia's Sky television reported that the bodies were found in a convoy of seven burnt out or abandoned trucks.
A bushfire in the area has been burning since Friday, scorching more than 7,500 hectares (18,532 acres), downing power lines and closing a major Western Australian state highway.