A woman struggled in vain to drag her friend from a crocodile's jaws during a late night swim off an Australian beach.

Winds that were fanning wildfires and showering embers on threatened Australian communities have eased after scores of residents evacuated their homes in mountains west of Sydney.

Scores of Australians have evacuated their homes in mountains west of Sydney as intensifying winds fanned wildfires that have ravaged the region for days.

Firefighters battling some of the most destructive wildfires to ever strike Australia’s most populous state are focusing on a major blaze near the town of Lithgow that stretches along a 190-mile front.

One man was killed, scores of homes were destroyed and hundreds of people were forced to evacuate as almost 100 wildfires burned across Australia’s most populous state today.