Australian Police Seek Man Who May Have Set Deadly Hostel Fire

Grief turned to anger Saturday for some of the survivors of a hostel fire that killed 15 backpackers, after police said they were searching for a man who might have set the blaze.

Robert Paul Long, 37, was known to have frequented the Palace hostel and was seen there Friday night, shortly before fire swept through the building, Chief Supt. Ken Benjamin said.

Benjamin would not say whether Long was the man who was ejected from the hostel a week ago and who had made threats to several women there in the days before the fire.

Police said it was too early to say what caused the fire, but they added that it appeared to be arson.

Forensic teams Saturday were probing the ruins of the hostel on the main street of Childers, a town of 1,500 located 195 miles north of the Queensland state capital, Brisbane.

The blaze broke out about 12:30 a.m. Friday in the rear of the ground floor of the 100-year-old former pub that was transformed into a hostel 18 months ago, authorities said.

The victims were seven people from the United Kingdom, three from the Netherlands, three from Australia and one each from South Korea and Japan. Dental records would be needed to help identify some of the bodies, police said.

Seventy residents of the hostel escaped the fire. Dozens suffered minor injuries, most as they tried to escape from the upper level by jumping onto nearby buildings.

Most of the guests were fruit-pickers at regional farms who had come to the area to make some extra money during their travels around Australia.