Man charged in New Zealand hostel fire remanded in custody

A 48-year-old man charged with two counts of arson appeared in court for the first time on Monday, following the fire at a boarding house in Wellington. The Wellington district court suppressed his name until his next appearance on June 19.

The man — accused of a couch fire at the Loafers Lodge on Monday night and another fatal fire that broke out two hours later — was remanded in custody on Friday as his lawyer did not apply for bail.

The combined maximum sentence of the charges is 21 years in jail.

Following the man’s arrest on Thursday, Inspector Dion Bennett said in a statement, “The police have not ruled out further, more serious charges in relation to the deaths at the scene.”

The accused made agitated hand gestures during the hearing and frequently spoke over the judge as he shouted: "I need bail, I need a good lawyer. Someone else done it." 

While speaking to reporters on Friday, Bennett said that officers found five bodies in the 92-room hostel and investigators were unable to enter the third floor as it was “quite dangerous”

Although he would not confirm the number of the deceased, Bennett said that the number of people missing was “less than 10”. However, the fire service confirmed earlier that at least six people had been killed.

Loafers Lodge, located in Newtown, near Wellington’s central city. The people staying there at the time of the fire included nurses and other workers from a nearby hospital, clients of Wellington’s social agencies and several people being supervised by the Department of Corrections, The Guardian reports.

As a result of the deadly fires, government lawmakers have promised to examine the regulations followed by such buildings.

On Friday, Bennett while giving an update about the bodies found in the building, said that they had been removed and a victim identification process was in progress.

Currently, none of the people who were killed or missing had yet been formally identified.