Sydney  - Australian police said they were homing in on arsonists Wednesday as victims vented their anger over forest fires north of Melbourne expected to claim well over 200 lives.

At least 1,000 houses were razed, 450,000 hectares blackened and 5,000 rendered homeless in the nation's worst natural disaster. The official death toll from Saturday's inferno stands at 181 but some expect the body count to go as high as 300.

Sydney, Feb. 11 (ANI): Promising New South Wales all-rounder Moises Henriques is set to make his international debut after being named in Australia''s squad for Sunday''s Twenty20 clash with New Zealand.

Henriques, 22, is the only new face in the 13-man squad, to be captained by Michael Clarke in the absence of Ponting who has been rested along with Mike Hussey.

Swashbuckling Blues opener David Warner, who was axed from Australia''s one-day side, has also been recalled.

Sydney  - Australian firefighter John Munday told of his heartache at saving the lives of his crew but leaving others to their deaths in fire-ravaged Marysville.

"We had people banging on the sides of our tanker begging us to go back to houses where they knew people were trapped," Munday told The Australian newspaper Wednesday. "But we couldn't because if we had, we'd all be dead too."

Sydney  - An Australia Navy diver was in serious condition Wednesday after being bitten by a shark within sight of the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The 31-year-old sustained injuries to his right leg and hand in the dawn attack at Garden Island naval base in Woolloomooloo.

"The attack occurred on the surface," Rear Admiral Nigel Coates told local radio. "He fought off the shark. He hit the shark a few times, as I understand it, and then swam a couple of metres to the safety boat, which was obviously nearby."

Sydney  - Police searched for arsonists in Australia's south-east Wednesday as officials defended their handling of forest fires expected to have claimed over 200 lives.

"If you thought back to last Friday, we all gave warnings, I gave warnings," Victoria state Premier John Brumby said. "And, the fact is, you can't cater for an evacuation of half a million people."

Sydney  - Police Tuesday began hunting arsonists behind the weekend's ferocious forest fires north of Melbourne as householders still in their path prepared to fight the flames or laid plans to flee them.

The death toll from Saturday's inferno reached 173, more than doubling the body count in Australia's previous worst forest fires in 1983.