New Zealand police on Thursday said they have levelled five murder charges against a man suspected of igniting a deadly hostel fire in Wellington last month.
The 48-year-old man, already remanded in custody on two counts of arson, now also faces the five murder charges, police said.
The deadly blaze engulfed the four-storey, 92-room hostel a fortnight ago in Wellington's city centre, killing five men who police have named.
Inspector Dion Bennett, acting Wellington district commander, said the victims' families have been informed.
"Our thoughts are with them and we are continuing to ensure they are supported through this process," he added.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
Donald Trump's First Speech After Assassination Bid
Security Tightened At Mumbai Stadium After Threat Message For Semi Final Match "Someone Else Done It": Man Charged In Deadly New Zealand Hostel Fire Cocaine Worth $300 Million Found Floating In Sea In New Zealand Massive Worldwide Microsoft Outage: Flights, Markets, Stock Exchange Down CrowdStrike Falcon Sensor: The Culprit Behind World's Biggest IT Outage In 1st Statement After Outage, CrowdStrike CEO Says... Why Some People Are Happy When They Are Dying Triptii Dimri's Sheer White Dress Only Gave Good News To Fashion Fans "Attack On Constitution": Priyanka Gandhi Hits Out At Kanwar Yatra Order Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.