A water-bombing plane may have crashed while fighting a massive bushfire in mountains near Sydney, Australia on Thursday. The New South Wales Rural Fire Service said in a statement, contact was lost with a large air tanker which was working in the Snowy Monaro area. Local ground crews indicate the aircraft may have crashed. A number of helicopters are in the area carrying out a search. The bushfire in the Snowy Mountains, about five hours from Sydney, is burning across almost 94,000 hectares.

Meanwhile, the airport in capital city of Canberra has been shut down due to the threat of approaching bushfires. Flights were cancelled out of Canberra Airport. Officials issued emergency warnings urging people to stay away from the airport as two blazes threatened to breach the airfield perimeters.

High temperatures and strong winds have fuelled an outbreak of new blazes across several areas in eastern Australia, ending a period of respite following several days of rains and cooler weather.