Melbourne, Australia – The confirmed death toll from Australia’s deadly wildfires reached the grim milestone of 200 Tuesday, and a police official said some bodies reduced to ash in the inferno would never be identified.

Investigators confirmed 11 additional people had died in one of more than 400 fires that raged across southern Victoria state on Feb. 7, destroying more than 1,800 homes and scorching more than 1,500 square miles of farms, forests and towns.

In a statement, Victoria police said the newest confirmed deaths occurred in a fire that razed the town of Kinglake and surrounding areas. Police spokesman Marty Beveridge said the death count would go higher as more remains are identified.

The sobering news came as a senior police commander said some of the victims of the deadly blazes will likely never be identified because the fires were so intense their bodies were cremated.

Ten days after the disaster, police say they have not been able to give a definitive death toll because of the difficulty in finding and identifying remains.

Police suspect at least two of the fires were deliberately set, and have charged one man with arson causing death and lighting a wildfire. Brendan Sokaluk, 39, faces a maximum sentence of 25 years on the first charge and 15 years on the second. He is being held in protective custody to prevent revenge attacks against him.

(Source: Fox News)