Haunting photo shows navy ship evacuating Australians trapped by fires

The Australian Navy's HMAS Choules can carry 32 tanks and up to 700 troops. It can also carry Australians fleeing from historic bushfires. 

On Thursday night the Royal Australian Navy released photos documenting the evacuation of Australian citizens from the small coastal town of Mallacoota, in southeastern Australia. Mallacoota was surrounded by flames. 

One particularly striking image shows the imposing HMAS Choules shrouded in a thick, smoky haze. The Navy got the request to evacuate Mallacoota's residents and tourists just before the new year, and brought two big vessels.

“When the call came out in the late afternoon of New Year’s Eve, the ships’ companies gladly stepped up to the challenge, and both ships were underway less than 17 hours later," Choules Commander Scott Houlihan said in a statement released by the Navy. Read more...

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