Backpackers' hostel fire alarm 'had been turned off' before blaze

A fire alarm at a backpackers' hostel had been switched off the night as flames swept through the building, killing 15 young travellers, a court has been told.

Queensland state government electrical safety officer Alan Faulks, who checked the Palace Backpacker Hostel's fire alarm system after the June 23 blaze, told the court it had been manually switched off and no alarm bells would have rung to warn of the fire.