The Australian Prime Minister accused arsonists of “mass murder” today as the death toll from savage bushfires sweeping parts of the country reached 131.

With thousands of homeless families flooding refugee centres around the state of Victoria, questions are also being raised about the nation’s bushfire safety policies.

Horrific stories have emerged of death – and survival – as police continue to sift though the remains of the 750 homes destroyed by the fire looking for bodies. The Government announced a Royal Commission into the scores of blazes which have torn through 330,000 hectares (1,275 square miles).

The small town of Marysville, in Victoria’s northeast, which was completely razed by a bushfire, has been declared a crime scene as it is believed that the fire was deliberately lit. The Premier of New South Wales has also announced a review of arson punishments.

“What do you say about anyone like that? There are no words to describe it other than mass murder,” Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister, said, fighting back tears. “This is of a level of horror that few of us anticipated.”

Up to 5,000 people left homeless by the fires have flooded into 20 Red Cross relief centres set up around the state to provide food and shelter for those left with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

At the main centre at Whittlesea, Post-it notes looking for loved ones were pinned to the noticeboards and shocked and bewildered people waited desperately for news.

At least 20 people were killed in Kinglake and nine in Kinglake West with dozens more fatalities in nearby communities, while at least 550 homes were razed.

Philip Chubb, a university lecturer who lives in the St Andrews area adjacent to Kinglake lost two neighbours in the fire that tore through the area.

Embers the size of dinner plates fell through the air as the fire bore down on his house, fuelled by hot winds that “sounded like hurricane”

But seconds later the wind changed direction and the blaze skipped their house, only to sweep through a neighbouring area.

Earlier today Mr Chubb found out his neighbours Reg Evans and Angela Brunton, who he regularly had dinner with, had perished.

While full of praise for the Country Fire Authority (CFA) which manages the bushfire controls, Mr Chubb said the advice given by the authorities were based on out-of-date policies put in place before Australia’s recent drought.

“The advice we’ve all been given is out of date,” Mr Chubb told Times Online.

“What that means is a lot of people were killed doing exactly what they were told to do. The people who died in their cars probably did so because, faced with something the size of what they were looking at, deciding they had to get out it was the least bad of two options that were available. Either way they were going to die and they were going to die doing what they were told to do.”

His comments came as the Victorian Premier John Brumby announced a Royal Commission into the bushfires and a full review of the state government’s bushfire policy of “stay and defend or leave early”.

Mr Brumby said the long-standing approach of advising people to have a bushfire plan ready to either stay to defend their homes or leave well before the fire became a threat had in many cases not saved people at the weekend.

“I think when the time comes to examine in-depth all of the issues that occurred on Saturday, obviously fire policy will be one of those areas,'' Mr Brumby told a local radio station.

“People will want to review that, examine that, it may be right, it may not be. It's served us well for 20 years or more - that is, if you decide to leave, leave early and if you decide to stay make sure you've got a fire plan.

“But there is no question that there were, you will talk to them there at Whittlesea, there is no question that there were people there who did everything right, put in place their fire plan and it wouldn't matter, their house was just incinerated.''

Meanwhile more than 300 firefighters are struggling to contain blazes that continue to burn in Victoria, and there are some alight in New South Wales. Beechworth in Victoria’s north remains on high alert as a nearby blaze threatens the town

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