Australian hostel fire suspect charged with attempted murder

Updated: 10:30, Friday, 30 June 2000

An Australian man who is being held for questioning in connection with a fire which killed 15 backpackers, has been charged with the attempted murder of a policeman.

Robert Long, Was not charged in relation to fire Robert Long, Was not charged in relation to fire

An Australian man who is being held for questioning in connection with a fire which killed 15 backpackers, has been charged with the attempted murder of a policeman. Robert Long, a 37-year-old itinerant fruitpicker, was shot and wounded on Wednesday by police not far from the scene of the fatal fire at Childers in Queensland. The 15 backpackers, one of whom was an Irish woman, died when fire tore through the Palace Backpackers Hostel last Friday. One of two police officers who detained Long was stabbed in the chin while attempting to arrest him.

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