Photo story: Wildfires in Australia from space

A satellite photo made available by MAXAR Technologies shows wildfires east of Orbost, Australia, on the 04 January 2020.

So far, the country’s devastating bushfires caused the death of 24 persons.

Thousands of firefighters were battling almost 200 blazes, many of them still burning out of control, in the south-eastern states of New South Wales (NSW), Victoria and South Australia.

“The weather conditions have improved in NSW and Victoria, but there are still many fires raging and there’s a significant firefighting effort continuing,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has faced heavy criticism for his handling of the crisis, told a news conference.

Photo: EPA-EFE/SATELLITE IMAGE ©2019 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES / HANDOUT MANDATORY CREDIT: (Satellite image © 2018 DigitalGlobe, a Maxar company) HANDOUT