A woman has been arrested and charged with arson in Queensland, Australia after she reportedly set fire to a hotel where she and her two kids were forced to quarantine for two weeks.
The blaze engulfed the top floor of the Pacific Hotel in the northeastern city of Cairns on Sunday morning, forcing the evacuation of more than 160 guests.
There were no injuries, but the damage to the building was “significant” and forced authorities to relocate people to other Covid-19 quarantine facilities.
Authorities said a 31-year-old woman lit a fire underneath her bed, after spending only a “couple of days” of the mandatory two-week quarantine inside the hotel after crossing into Queensland from another state. Before the incident, she also reportedly had caused other unspecified troubles for the staff during her stay.
Her two children were taken under police protection, while the woman was charged with arson and willful damage, and is due to appear in court on Monday.
