No further charges over hostel arson that killed 15
An Australian coroner today ruled that no additional charges should be brought over an arson attack at an Outback hostel that killed 15 tourists.
Six Britons, four Australians, two Dutch, one Irish, one Japanese and one South Korean died when a fire tore through the overcrowded Palace Backpackers Hostel in Childers, Queensland state, on June 23, 2000.
Itinerant fruit picker Robert Paul Long was found guilty of starting the blaze. He was sentenced to life in prison in March 2002 and must serve a minimum of 20 years.
The Queensland state coroner, Michael Barnes, reopened an inquiry this week into whether the hostel’s managers should be charged for allegedly failing to provide adequate emergency escape routes from the hostel.
Barnes found that the hostel’s operators, John Dobe and Christian Atkinson, were not so negligent that they should face manslaughter charges over the tragedy.
