At least three people died and six were hospitalised when a fire raged through a boarding house in Brisbane overnight in what police said appeared to be an arson attack.
Firemen evacuated 45 people from the two-story wooden boarding house and nearby homes in northern Brisbane, on Australia's east coast, police said.
Police initially said five boarders were missing but then found all but one of them. The bodies of three men were recovered from the building.
The six injured included a man who suffered a heart attack and others who were burned or treated for smoke inhalation, they said.
Police inspector Mr John Hegarty said the fire was being treated as an arson investigation. "We have some witnesses who've come forward who notified the fire authorities and said they saw particular things that I won't go into at this stage," Mr Hegarty told ABC radio.
About 20 people fled the boarding house after the fire broke out shortly before midnight.
In June 2000, a fire set in a backpackers' hostel in a rural town north of Brisbane killed 15 young people including Irishwoman Julie O'Keeffe (24). Robert John Long (38) was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment for starting the fire.
AFP