The families of 11 of the 15 young backpackers killed in an Australian hostel blaze in 2000 have launched legal action against the state of Queensland.
The families, from Ireland, Australia, England, Wales and Korea - are suing the state of Queensland, the local council, the operators of the hostel and the owner of the building, Melbourne-based law firm Slater and Gordon said in a statement.
Under Queensland personal injury laws, claimants must first serve notice that a claim action is being taken, allowing a six month period for settlement, before then proceeding to court if settlement can not be reached.
A deliberately lit blaze killed 15 backpackers, including six Britons, when it tore through the hostel in Childers, 300 km (185 miles) north of the Queensland state capital Brisbane, around midnight on June 23, 2000.
Also killed in the fire were an Irish national, two Dutch, a South Korean, a Japanese and four Australians.
Itinerant fruitpicker Robert Long was sentenced to life in prison earlier this year after a jury found him guilty on two counts of murder and one of arson.
"The Childers families are living every parent's worst nightmare -- their world has been turned upside down by the sudden catastrophic loss of their child," Slater and Gordon solicitor Tanja Kovac said.
She said many of the families "continue to suffer severe psychological distress and an inability to enjoy work and life as they once did".
The families allege in their claim that the operators of the hostel did not have an operational fire alarm system or proper fire evacuation procedure, that fire exits were blocked by furniture and that fire exit lights were not operating.
The families also allege in their claim the owner of the building, the local council and the state of Queensland allowed the hostel to operate under these conditions and failed to carry out inspections of the building.
The hostel operators acknowledged during Long's trial that there had not been a functioning fire alarm in the hostel for several weeks because it was broken.