UK backpacker stabbed to death in Townsville was Gold Coast nightclub waitress Mia Ayliffe-Chung
THE tight-knit Gold Coast nightclub sector is reeling after a “bubbly” young waitress was stabbed to death at a hostel near Townsville last night.
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THE tight-knit Gold Coast nightclub sector is reeling after a “bubbly” young waitress was stabbed to death in Townsville last night.
English woman Mia Ayliffe-Chung, 21, a waitress at The Bedroom nightclub in Surfers Paradise for the past six months, was killed in a frenzied attack at a backpackers hostel.
Witnesses reported a 29-year-old French national — who had been in the country since March — yelled “Allahu akbar”, or “God is Great” in Arabic, before fatally attacking the woman and critically injuring a 30-year-old British male backpacker.
Miss Ayliffe-Chung had only been in Townsville for about 10 days, having gone to do rural work so she could extend her working holiday visa in Australia.
Staff at The Bedroom told the Gold Coast Bulletin the UK backpacker was intent on returning to the Gold Coast and the bar after doing the required three-month fruit-picking stint to extend her visa.
The Bedroom is planning to close tonight out of respect as her shocked colleagues come to terms with her death.
See the Bulletin tomorrow for full details and tributes
Posts made on her Facebook page as recently as yesterday show her counting down the days until she could return to working in a bar on the Gold Coast.
The young woman did appear to warm to farm life, however, with a video of her happily driving a truck with a dirt-smeared forehead, as fellow workers continued to work in the field, posted five days before her death.
Shocked friends flooded social media with tributes as the news of her violent death emerged on Wednesday.
“Just can’t believe it. Mia Ayliffe-Chung was too young and such a beautiful & soulful girl,” wrote Hannah Weisskopf-Biggs.
“Mia was an infectiously happy, young girl, and will be missed dearly. R.I. P” said Rowan Clark.
Australian Federal Police are now involved in the investigation, with police expected to examine whether the man — who had been in the country several months — has any link to terror organisations.
Queensland Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski told a press conference a 29-year-old French national believed to be responsible for the fatal knife attack had been arrested but not charged.
“This person appears to have acted alone,” he said.
“He is a visitor to Australia and appears to have no known local connections.
“There is no ongoing threat to the community.”
In his update to the media with AFP Commander Sharon Cowden, Queensland Police Service Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said: “We are not ruling out any motivations at this stage. We wish to reassure the community — we are not looking for anyone else.
“It was a shocking attack by any standards — motivations unclear, investigation in its infancy.”
Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski confirmed the attacker shouted about Allah both “during the attack and when arrested by police”.
Police are classing it as a murder investigation, but the Australian Federal Police, Attorney General’s department and Australian Border Force have been brought in.
Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski said at this stage there was no evidence of radicalisation, but all options were being considered.
“The investigation is happening right now so we don’t have clarity,” he said.
“We could be dealing with a pure criminal act or something related to mental health or drug issues,” he said.
The AFP confirmed the French national was lawfully in Australia on a temporary visa and was not known to police.
He is understood to have arrived in the country in March.
A local resident received non-life threatening injuries during the attack, while a dog that lived at the premises was killed.
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