Blaze hostel alarm was not working

Fifteen people died in the blaze at the hostel

A safety inspector has told a court that the fire alarm system in a hostel in which 15 people died- including two from south Wales - was not connected up.

The committal hearing of 37-year-old Robert Long - accused of starting the hostel fire - has also heard that he allegedly gave a suicide note to a friend in the weeks before.

Robert Long is accused of starting the fire

Natalie Morris, 28, from Cefn Coed near Merthyr Tydfil, and Sarah Williams, 22, from Aberfan, were among the backpackers who died in the fire in Childers, Queensland.

Five Britons, two more Australians, two Dutch, a South Korean and a Japanese traveller also died. Allan Faulks, from the Queensland Department of Mines and Energy, told the court in Brisbane that he inspected the hostel's alarm system after the fire.

He said it was not properly connected to the main power and would not operate.

Earlier, magistrates were told that a man resembling Mr Long was seen using the hostel's internet computer shortly before the

British backpacker Neil Griffith said that about an hour before the fire, he found a burning waste paper bin in the hostel's television room.

'Crackling like fireworks'

"I shouted across to him there was a fire in the lounge," Griffith said.

"He (Robert Long) grabbed the bin and walked off to the rear of the building. I believed him to have dealt with the fire."

"I walked back up the stairs to go to bed."

"The next thing I remember was being woken up by some banging... and crackling like fireworks going off right next to the room."

Natalie Morris: Died in the blaze

"One of the guys opened the door. It was a wall of black (smoke)."

The court heard Griffith chose two photographs when interviewed by police as resembling the man he saw that night. One of them was of Long.

He described the man at the computer as being about 40 years old with a "big, scruffy beard".

Magistrate Michael Halliday - who is presiding over Long's committal hearing - must rule if sufficient evidence exists to put him on trial.

Robert Long, has not been required to enter a plea on charges of murder and arson.