Second search uncovers more remains

21 Feb 2009, 2:42 pm   -   Source: AAP
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The latest discoveries have not yet affected the death toll that stands at 209 (AAP)

The latest discoveries have not yet affected the death toll that stands at 209 (AAP)

Victoria's coroner has ordered a tightening of security at bushfire-ravaged sites after more human remains were found in areas already searched.

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Victoria's coroner has ordered a tightening of security at bushfire-ravaged sites after more human remains were found in areas already searched.

Forensic officers combing fire sites in Marysville, Kinglake and Hazeldene, recovered several new sets of remains late on Friday, state coroner Jennifer Coate revealed on Saturday.

The findings prompted Ms Coate to issue a directive empowering police to restrict access to virtually all fire-devastated areas in order to preserve the integrity of the scenes and the forensic investigations, as well as ordering many sites to be searched again.

"In the wake of those second searches, a number of human remains were located in those areas that had previously been searched," Ms Coate told reporters in Melbourne on Saturday.

"To properly ensure for families that we are able to produce for them the answers that they need and their loved ones returned to them as best we can, it became clear that what we needed to do is preserve those sites to enable police to complete this extraordinary and complex task of the searches of those fire-affected areas where tragically people have perished."

Search and identification complex

The so-called Black Saturday bushfires of February 7 have so far claimed 209 lives, most of them in a sweep of towns and villages northeast of Melbourne.

But Ms Coate said she could not confirm whether the new findings would add to the overall death toll.

And she defended the work of police and other search agencies, saying investigations were being carried out in incredibly difficult and dangerous circumstances.

"The police have done what they needed to do to the best of their ability," Ms Coate added.

"Such is the level of expertise that exists among the range of scientific areas that are working with us ... that even the smallest piece of evidence may assist us in giving families confirmation that they need, rather than leave these questions unanswered for them for all time.

"If we don't preserve the scenes in this way to ensure that we've given us the best opportunity to give them (the families) the answers that they need, we will lose that opportunity.

"The fact that the re-search (re-search) has given us further evidence doesn't for a moment cast any shadow over the extraordinary job that the searchers have done to date.

"It's an incredibly complex scene, it's unprecedented."

Under the coroner's new directive, survivors and residents will not be denied entry to fire-hit areas but they will be banned from clearing their ruined homes and sites until police have declared them as checked.

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