The parents of the man sought for questioning over the Australia backpacker hostel fire yesterday called for their son to come forward. Mr Sid Long urged his 37-year-old son, Robert, to phone him and his wife, Norma, so they could talk through the events of the past week.
Robert Long is reported to have been at the Childers hostel on the eve of last Friday's blaze, in which 15 backpackers died. It is believed he was seen drinking at the rear of the building with two English backpackers.
Backpacker Darren Hill said that Mr Long had told an English couple on the night of the fire to keep their windows open and to be near the fire escape.
"They were very shaken up," he said. "They didn't believe him; they only got out because their next-door neighbours got them out, otherwise they never would have made it."
Mr Long is thought to have drifted into Childers in March and got work picking fruit and vegetables, staying at the hostel.
Police said yesterday it was "highly unlikely" that Mr Long was among the fire victims.
As the bodies were being removed from the building yesterday, an English backpacker who featured on a victims list turned up alive. Nicola Morgan approached the police after attending the memorial service for the dead.
The British Foreign Office said she had never appeared on their list of missing victims but was reported in Australia to have been a victim of the blaze. Six British nationals and one Irish national remain unaccounted for.
A passport belonging to Julie O'Keefe, a 24-year-old graduate of Waterford Institute of Technology, has been found in the hostel. Ms O'Keefe has not contacted her family.
A police spokesman said that eight bodies have yet to be retrieved from the building.
Believed to be among the dead are UK nationals Gary Sutton, (24), of North View Close, in the Twerton area of Bath, Somerset; Michael Lewis (25), from Bristol, Somerset; Sarah Williams (23), of Aberfan, south Wales; and Natalie Morris, from Cefn Coed, south Wales. Also missing is Melissa Smith from Britain.