Australian 2009 bushfire victims win $225 mn settlement

Hundreds of survivors of the 2009 Australian Black Saturday bushfires, in which 40 people were killed, have won a $225 million settlement.

Power group AusNet reached the settlement amount with the victims and announced it Friday, Xinhua reported.

The bushfires that had occurred Feb 7 (Saturday), 2009 near an unused sawmill in Victoria state's Murrindindi area soon turned an out-of-control inferno that raced through the Toolangi State Forest.

An abrupt wind change shifted the bushfire towards Marysville town, north of Melbourne. It eventually destroyed the town and left 40 people dead.

The settlement was announced Friday, an hour before a class action ran on behalf of the Marysville victims was to begin in the Victoria Supreme Court.

It was alleged that the fire was sparked by a break in an electrical conductor on a power pole near the Murrindindi sawmill. The company denied its power poles were to blame.