UK 'hero' dies after Australian hostel attack

Police in the northeastern Australian state of Queensland said on Tuesday that the 30-year-old man had died of injuries sustained in last week's stabbing attack at a hostel.

"Police can confirm 30-year-old Thomas Jackson, critically injured in an alleged knife attack at Home Hill on August 23, has today passed away in the Townsville Hospital," authorities said in a statement.

Jackson had previously been hailed as a hero by police, who said his actions in trying to help 21-year-old fellow Briton Mia Ayliffe-Chung, who was killed in the attack, were "completely selfless." Jackson's father, Les, who had flown from Britain to be at his son's bedside, said on Sunday he was "immensely proud" of Tom.

'No radicalization'

French national Smail Ayad, 29, has already been charged with Ayliffe-Chung's murder after allegedly attacking her with a knife in front of several backpackers in the hostel in Home Hill, a small rural town near the popular tourist destination of Townsville in Queensland.

A 46-year-old Australian man also suffered non-life-threatening wounds in the attack.

Police alleged that Ayad had called out the Arabic phrase "Allahu akbar," meaning "God is great" during the attack, but said that there was no indication that he was motivated by extremism.

Australia has been on a high terror-threat alert level since September 2014 amid fears of home-grown radicalization, with a number of Australians known to have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight alongside Islamist extremist groups such as "Islamic State."

tj/jm (AP, AFP)