dpa German Press Agency
Published: Monday October 16, 2006
Wellington- Chinese student Zhou Xu, 24, from the Hulong Jiang province, was found dead crouched in a wardrobe after a mysterious fire engulfed his suburban Auckland home in the early hours of Monday, police said. They said there were signs that an accelerant like petrol had been distributed in the house but they did not know if anyone else was involved.
A post-mortem showed that Xu died from smoke inhalation, a detective, who described the death as having "unusual circumstance," told Radio New Zealand.
He said Xu had been in New Zealand on a student visa since May this year but had visited the country a number of times since 2000.
A neighbour and passers-by called the fire brigade when they saw smoke coming from the house at Blockhouse Bay about 2:40 a.m.
Police are looking for a mystery man believed to be the flatmate of a Chinese student killed in a suspicious house fire in Auckland yesterday.
Firefighters tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate Zhuo Xu, who was found curled up and unconscious in the wardrobe of his burning Blockhouse Bay Rd home about 2.45am.
It is understood the house smelled strongly of petrol and there were traces of blood in the wardrobe and on a broken window, possibly from a cut Mr Xu, 24, may have received trying to escape.
It is not known how Mr Xu came to be in the wardrobe.
Another man is believed to have been living at the house, and Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Benefield said police were keen to track him down.
"It is important that we locate whoever else lived at 419 Blockhouse Bay Rd, so that we can account for everyone."
Fire Service Senior Station Officer Shaun Thornton said firefighters arrived at the house just after 2.30am to find it "reasonably well involved".
They searched the house and found Mr Xu in the bedroom. He was burned, bleeding and unconscious.
Neither CPR nor defibrillation could revive him, Mr Thornton said.
Neighbour Gina Williams said she and her partner awoke about 2.45am to the sound of smashing glass.
They went outside to see their neighbours' house on fire and yelled out to firefighters that two people lived there and might be inside.
One neighbour said two Chinese men lived at the house, but they were difficult to contact.
Another neighbour said the men "basically kept to themselves".作者: SUNのDAY 时间: 2006-10-17 08:53:50