THE AUSTRALIAN
ByRebecca Urban, November 21, 2016
National Education Correspondent
@RurbsOz
Commonwealth Bank has ordered a probe into Friday’s firebomb attack on a busy Melbourne branch, amid claims that dozens of injured and frightened customers had been unable to escape due to the doors being locked.
Calls for the bank to investigate its emergency response procedures have come as a clearer picture has emerged of the troubled asylum-seeker who allegedly set himself alight inside the Springvale branch, sparking a blaze that resulted in 27 people being hospitalised with burns and smoke inhalation.
Nur Islam, a 21-year-old from Myanmar, came to Australia by boat in 2013 with hopes of getting a job so he could support his mother and sisters back home.
His housemate Joseph Joseph said his friend’s mental health had deteriorated significantly from the “jovial man” he met in a Queensland detention centre three years ago, with Mr Islam becoming “delusional” and “paranoid” in recent weeks.
Early reports claimed that Mr Islam had recently gone from bank to bank, pleading for money after his Centrelink benefits, understood to be $430 a fortnight, had been stopped.
But the Department of Human Services denied that claim yesterday. “Claims about a break or delay in Centrelink payments to the suspect of the Commonwealth Bank incident in Springvale are incorrect and speculative,” a departmental spokeswoman said.
Mr Islam’s ethnicity is also uncertain. While his housemate insisted that he was part of the persecuted Rohingya community, the Burmese Rohingya Community in Australia group distanced itself from Mr Islam after looking into his background.
“He is from Burma, there is no doubt about that, but it is clear he is not Rohingya,” community president Anwar Sha said.
Terrorism has largely been ruled out as a motive, with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews revealing yesterday that police had advised him the attack was not terror-related.
According to Mr Joseph, Mr Islam was on a bridging visa that allowed him to work but he did not have a job. “His mum was asking him for money because his sister was sick,” he said. “In Myanmar, you can only go to hospital if you have money. But ... he is broke.
“He was thinking: if the government gave money to me, why is the bank not giving it? He was not thinking normally.”
The Springvale branch is one of the CBA’s “specialist migrant branches”, set up to help new arrivals, including asylum-seekers.
Mr Islam remains under police guard at Melbourne’s The Alfred hospital, where he is being treated for serious burns. He is among five patients who remain there, two of whom are listed as critical.
CBA confirmed yesterday that all 15 staff working during the incident were now safe, with the last hospitalised employee discharged yesterday.
The bank declined to comment on what fire safety protocols were in place at the branch, including whether there were sprinklers and fire extinguishers.
Link: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/commonwealth-bank-to-investigate-lockeddoor-claims-after-fire-attack/news-story/3c4d66c9f13641c547584030ef80ee74
ByRebecca Urban, November 21, 2016
National Education Correspondent
@RurbsOz
CCTV footage of the alleged arsonist walking to the bank.
Commonwealth Bank has ordered a probe into Friday’s firebomb attack on a busy Melbourne branch, amid claims that dozens of injured and frightened customers had been unable to escape due to the doors being locked.
Calls for the bank to investigate its emergency response procedures have come as a clearer picture has emerged of the troubled asylum-seeker who allegedly set himself alight inside the Springvale branch, sparking a blaze that resulted in 27 people being hospitalised with burns and smoke inhalation.
Nur Islam, a 21-year-old from Myanmar, came to Australia by boat in 2013 with hopes of getting a job so he could support his mother and sisters back home.
His housemate Joseph Joseph said his friend’s mental health had deteriorated significantly from the “jovial man” he met in a Queensland detention centre three years ago, with Mr Islam becoming “delusional” and “paranoid” in recent weeks.
Early reports claimed that Mr Islam had recently gone from bank to bank, pleading for money after his Centrelink benefits, understood to be $430 a fortnight, had been stopped.
But the Department of Human Services denied that claim yesterday. “Claims about a break or delay in Centrelink payments to the suspect of the Commonwealth Bank incident in Springvale are incorrect and speculative,” a departmental spokeswoman said.
Mr Islam’s ethnicity is also uncertain. While his housemate insisted that he was part of the persecuted Rohingya community, the Burmese Rohingya Community in Australia group distanced itself from Mr Islam after looking into his background.
“He is from Burma, there is no doubt about that, but it is clear he is not Rohingya,” community president Anwar Sha said.
Terrorism has largely been ruled out as a motive, with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews revealing yesterday that police had advised him the attack was not terror-related.
According to Mr Joseph, Mr Islam was on a bridging visa that allowed him to work but he did not have a job. “His mum was asking him for money because his sister was sick,” he said. “In Myanmar, you can only go to hospital if you have money. But ... he is broke.
“He was thinking: if the government gave money to me, why is the bank not giving it? He was not thinking normally.”
The Springvale branch is one of the CBA’s “specialist migrant branches”, set up to help new arrivals, including asylum-seekers.
Mr Islam remains under police guard at Melbourne’s The Alfred hospital, where he is being treated for serious burns. He is among five patients who remain there, two of whom are listed as critical.
CBA confirmed yesterday that all 15 staff working during the incident were now safe, with the last hospitalised employee discharged yesterday.
The bank declined to comment on what fire safety protocols were in place at the branch, including whether there were sprinklers and fire extinguishers.
Link: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/commonwealth-bank-to-investigate-lockeddoor-claims-after-fire-attack/news-story/3c4d66c9f13641c547584030ef80ee74
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