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Australia is in a state of "complete shock" after the loss of one of its greatest ever sports stars, with Shane Warne dead at age 52.

Warne died in a Thailand hotel on Friday while on holiday of a suspected heart attack, with his management confirming he was found unresponsive and unable to be revived.

The news came less than 24 hours after the death of fellow Australia cricket legend Rod Marsh, who Warne himself had only just publicly paid tribute to.

Australia's men's Test team had just finished play on day one in Pakistan when the news broke, while the women were set to wake to it as they begin their World Cup in New Zealand on Saturday.

"Hard to fathom," a clearly emotional Pat Cummins said.

"Warnie was an all-time great. A once-in-a-century type cricketer and his records will live on forever

"We all grew up watching Warnie, idolising him. We all had posters on our walls, had his earings.

"We loved so much about Warnie.

"His showmanship, his charisma, his tactics, the way he just willed himself and the team around him to win games for Australia.

"There are so many guys in this team and squad who still have him as a hero and all-time favourite player. The loss we are trying to wrap our head around is huge.

"The game of cricket was never the same after Shane emerged, and it will never be the same now he has gone. Rest in peace King."

Warne was Australia's greatest-ever bowler and arguably the country's second greatest cricketer in history behind Don Bradman.

Named one of the five cricketers of the 20th century by Wisden when he was still midway through his career, Warne owned the field in the way few others have.

A magician with the ball, the legspinner remains Australia's leading wicket-taker and sits second behind Muthiah Muralidaran globally with 708 scalps in 145 Tests.

He played one of the most influential roles in Australia's golden era of cricket, announcing himself with the magic ball that bowled Mike Gatting in 1993 and bowing out with a 5-0 Ashes whitewash at home in 2006-07.

In between times, he bowled Australia to the 1999 World Cup, helping them back from the brink with unforgettable displays in the semi-final and final.

Such was Warne's brilliance, he took a record 96 wickets in the penultimate year of his career.

All up he finished with 1001 international wickets across all formats, earning spots in the ICC, Australian cricket and Australian sport Hall of Fame.

"Shane was one of the most talented and charismatic cricketers we have ever witnessed," Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley said.

"He loved cricket, had an extraordinarily astute understanding of the game and his influence and legacy will last for as long as it is played.

"We are in a state of complete shock at his sudden passing."

Teammate Adam Gilchrist took to social with 12 broken hearts, while the likes of Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar and Michael Vaughan posted their shock and devastation.

"Numb. The highlight of my cricketing career was to keep wicket to Warnie. Best seat in the house to watch the maestro at work," said Gilchrist.

Thai police have since told Reuters that Warne's body had been taken for an autopsy and friends who found him would be spoken with, but added there were no signs of foul play.

SHANE WARNE (September 13, 1969 - March 4, 2022)

* Tests: 145

* Test Wickets: 708 at 25.41

* Test Runs: 3154 at 17.32

* ODIs: 194

* ODI wickets: 293 at 25.73

* ODI runs: 1018 and 13.05

* One of five Wisden Cricketers of 20th century

* Australian Cricket Hall of Fame

* ICC Cricket Hall of Fame

* Sport Australia Hall of Fame

* 1999 World Cup winner

* 1999 World Cup player of the final

© AAP 2022

Flood-hit communities around NSW are continuing their clean-up efforts, with six deaths now confirmed ahead of more predicted rain.

The most recent fatality was a man believed to be in his 40s whose body was found near Terragon, south of Murwillumbah on Friday afternoon.

About 400 personnel across the NSW Rural Fire Service, Fire & Rescue NSW and the Australian Defence Force will join the clean-up effort.

"The immense scale of the flooding is unprecedented and we are putting equally unprecedented resources into the significant clean-up and long-term recovery effort," Emergency Services and Resilience Minister Steph Cooke said.

Ms Cooke will also soon take on the role of Flood Recovery Minister, Premier Dominic Perrottet announced on Friday.

Concerns have been raised about the depth of the government's preparation, resourcing and response to the disastrous floods, with Mr Perrottet acknowledging on Friday it was likely mistakes were made.

Those will be identified when the government conducts its reviews and the premier has pledged to "resource every level of government to a level that will provide protection to the people of our state".

The SES has begun giving the all clear for evacuated residents to return home after Sydney dodged the bulk of the rain.

Essential Energy said on Friday it had restored power to 37,500 customers in the north of the state, with 13,500 to go.

In western Sydney, Endeavour Energy estimates it will be several days before flood-damaged electricity infrastructure can be assessed after power was turned off at more than 900 low-lying properties along the Hawkesbury, Nepean and Colo Rivers on Thursday.

Cash management providers Prosegur and Armaguard have delivered cash to Casino, Byron Bay and other towns around northern NSW as electronic payment systems were taken out of action and ATMs ran out of notes.

Over the next four days parts of NSW could see up to 100mm of rain and parts of the Hunter up to 150mm with severe thunderstorms, heavy rains and damaging winds forecast, said the BoM.

"We are not past the danger period yet. The rivers are very high, fast-flowing," NSW SES Commissioner Carlene York said.

Further rain over the weekend falling in saturated catchments could cause renewed river rises in areas already devastated by flooding.

© AAP 2022

A huge blaze in a building at the site of Europe's biggest nuclear power station has been extinguished and officials say the plant is operating normally, seized by Russian forces in heavy fighting that caused global alarm.

Officials said the fire at the Zaporizhzhia compound on Friday was in a training centre and not at the plant itself. An official at Energoatom, the state enterprise that runs Ukraine's four nuclear plants, said there was no further fighting, the fire was out, radiation was normal and Russian forces were in control.

Russia's defence ministry also said the plant was working normally. It blamed the fire on a "monstrous attack" by Ukrainian saboteurs and said its forces were in control.

The prospect that fighting at the plant could cause a potential nuclear disaster had set world financial markets tumbling.

Even with that scenario seemingly averted, Russia's grip on a plant that provides more than one-fifth of Ukraine's electricity was a big development after eight days of war in which other Russian advances have been stalled by fierce resistance.

US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and other Western officials said there was no indication of elevated radiation levels at the plant.

Earlier, a video from the plant verified by Reuters showed one building aflame, and a volley of incoming shells, before a large incandescent ball lit up the sky, exploding beside a car park and sending smoke billowing across the compound.

"Europeans, please wake up. Tell your politicians - Russian troops are shooting at a nuclear power plant in Ukraine," Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address. In another address later he called on Russians to protest.

He also called on Russians to protests over the attack.

Thousands of people are believed to have been killed or wounded and more than one million refugees have fled Ukraine since February 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two.

Russian forces advancing from three directions have besieged Ukrainian cities and pounded them with artillery and air strikes. Moscow says its aim is to disarm its neighbour and capture leaders it calls neo-Nazis. Ukraine and its Western allies call that a baseless pretext for a war to conquer the country of 44 million people.

Russia had already captured the defunct Chernobyl plant north of Kyiv, which spewed radioactive waste over much of Europe when it melted down in 1986. The Zaporizhzhia plant is a different and safer type.

Loud explosions could be heard in Kyiv on Friday morning and an air raid siren blared. Reuters journalists in the capital were not immediately able to determine the cause of the blasts.

Only one Ukrainian city, the southern port of Kherson, has fallen to Russian forces since the invasion was launched on February 24, but Russian forces continue to surround and attack other cities.

The southeastern port city of Mariupol has been encircled by Russian forces and subjected to intense strikes, Britain said in an intelligence update on Friday.

The northeastern cities of Kharkiv and Chernihiv have been under attack since the start of the invasion, but defenders are holding out.

Kyiv, the capital of three million people, has been shelled but has so far been spared a major assault, with Russia's main attack force stalled for days in a miles-long convoy on a highway to the north. In Washington, a US defence official said Russians were still 25km from Kyiv city centre.

On Thursday, Russia and Ukraine negotiators agreed at peace talks on the need for humanitarian corridors to help civilians escape and to deliver medicines and food to areas of fighting.

In Russia itself, where Putin's main opponents have largely been jailed or driven into exile over the past year, the war has been accompanied by a further crackdown on dissent. Authorities have banned reports that refer to the "special military operation" as a "war" or "invasion". Anti-war demonstrations have been quickly squelched with thousands of arrests.

© DPA 2022