Swede dies in Australian inferno
A 44-year-old Swede has fallen victim to the catastrophic fires that have hit the southern Australia province of Victoria in recent weeks.
Isak Nilsson and his 39-year-old British wife Kirstie refused to abandon the home they had built at the end of the 1990s as fires raged in the vicinity of Marysville, north-east of Melbourne last weekend, Aftonbladet reports.
The couple had sent their three children, 10, 12 and 14-years-old, to stay with their grandmother, but elected themselves to stay and try to fight the fires and protect the home in which their youngest daughter had been born.
The newspaper reports that had been busy cutting flora and fauna from their land and dousing their house in water when the firestorm suddenly arrived and ravaged their property.
So far 181 people are known to have died in the fires and around 1,600 homes have been destroyed leaving 5,000 people homeless.
Australia authorities announced on Friday that a 39-year-old man had been charged with arson causing death in connection with the deadly bushfires. The man faces a penalty of up to 25 years in prison.
Isak Nilsson was born in Liberia to Swedish parents and despite swapping his Swedish citizenship to Australian in the 1970s, remained a very proud Swede, Aftonbladet reports.
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Isak Nilsson and his 39-year-old British wife Kirstie refused to abandon the home they had built at the end of the 1990s as fires raged in the vicinity of Marysville, north-east of Melbourne last weekend, Aftonbladet reports.
The couple had sent their three children, 10, 12 and 14-years-old, to stay with their grandmother, but elected themselves to stay and try to fight the fires and protect the home in which their youngest daughter had been born.
The newspaper reports that had been busy cutting flora and fauna from their land and dousing their house in water when the firestorm suddenly arrived and ravaged their property.
So far 181 people are known to have died in the fires and around 1,600 homes have been destroyed leaving 5,000 people homeless.
Australia authorities announced on Friday that a 39-year-old man had been charged with arson causing death in connection with the deadly bushfires. The man faces a penalty of up to 25 years in prison.
Isak Nilsson was born in Liberia to Swedish parents and despite swapping his Swedish citizenship to Australian in the 1970s, remained a very proud Swede, Aftonbladet reports.
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