Melbourne Hostel Blaze Kills Backpacker Couple

October 4th, 2006 by Pia Taylor

Melbourne Fire Engine

On Sunday two backpackers were killed by a runaway fire in their Melbourne hostel.

According to the Border Mail, the pair, believed to have been engaged, were staying at a Brunswick boarding house in Sydney Rd when ‘fire swept through the two-storey building’.

The blaze apparently started in the kitchen of the downstairs pizza shop before swiftly sweeping upstairs into the room they shared.

Unfortunately, heroic attempts to rescue them failed, and they died in the flames.

What a tragic story. At first it made me think twice about sleeping anywhere that’s above a restaurant, but I guess these things can happen anytime, anywhere, kitchen or no kitchen.

Heart-wrenching. Imagine it had been someone you knew (perhaps it was).

(Photo: Dr Keats/Flickr)

Related stories:
‘2 killed in backpacker blaze’ (Border Mail)
‘Pizza shop fire kills engaged backpacker couple ‘ (Townsville Bulletin)
‘Brunswick fire exposes lax boarding house rules’ (The Age)

Posted in Travel News