(NEWS.COM.AU) A YOUNG British backpacker allegedly stabbed to death at a hostel by a French man after he yelled “Allahu akbar” has been described as “infectiously happy” by devastated friends.

Mia Ayliffe-Chung, 21, died at Shelley's Backpackers in Home Hill, south of Townsville, late on Tuesday night after a brutal attack.

Multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating if terrorism is behind her killing and the attempted killing of a 30-year-old fellow Brit, named locally as Tom Jackson.

An Australian man named as Grant Scholz, 46, also received non-life threatening wounds in the attack.

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