Rural communities urged to flee east Australia bushfire

About 600 firefighters were battling the blaze in the Grampians National Park, west of Melbourne in Australia, a Victoria state emergency services spokesperson said.

Authorities urged people in dozens of rural communities to leave home immediately on Thursday to escape an out-of-control bushfire tearing through a national park.

The blaze has persisted for more than a week in hot, windy conditions, scorching 55,000 hectares of the park, so far without causing deaths or destroying homes.