'Deliberate' hostel blaze kills three

Three people have been killed in a fire at a boarding house in Brisbane that police believe was started deliberately.

“We hope it is three, but at this stage we cannot take it any further because the search is not complete,” Queensland State Police detective inspector John Hegarty said.

An ambulance spokesman said the heat was so intense it melted plastic fittings inside cars parked nearby.

Rescue workers resuscitated an elderly man who had a heart attack at the scene. Five people were admitted to hospital suffering from burns and smoke inhalation.

“I thought we were gone, the whole lot of us,” survivor Stanley Wilshire said. “There were flames everywhere.”

Hegarty said the fire broke out at about 11:30 pm (2.30pm Irish time) on Sunday and destroyed the timber building.

He said police had reason to believe the fire was started intentionally, but did not elaborate.

He said the blaze caused chaos as 30 terrified people rushed from the boarding house - which is a cheap alternative to a hotel. It was not known exactly how many people were in the building at the time of the fire.

The victims’ identities were not immediately released.

In Queensland’s most deadly blaze two years ago, 15 young travellers - including Limerick native Julie O'Keeffe - were killed in the Palace Backpackers Hostel fire in the small rural town of Childers, north of Brisbane.

Robert John Long, 38, was convicted of murder following the blaze and sentenced to life imprisonment.