Gas cylinder explosion injures 77 in southern Spain

A gas explosion at a restaurant in Spain has left scores of people injured in the southern tourist town of Velez-Malaga.

The incident happened at the La Bohemia restaurant on Saturday when a gas leak started a fire in the kitchen causing a gas cylinder to blow up.

“77 people have been injured in the explosion,” said a spokesman for the Andalusian autonomous region’s emergency unit, adding, “Five of them are injured seriously.”

The spokesman said the explosion occurred at about 1700 GMT during a festival in the town, which is 40 kilometers northeast of the more popular tourist destination of Malaga.

A spokesman for the local hospital explained that the majority of the injuries were cuts and bruises. “None of those seriously injured were at risk of death,” he said.

A festival was taking place in the town just a few meters from the restaurant at the time of the explosion, local media said.

But they also said that a cook at the restaurant was able to alert customers in time to a fire in the kitchen, which gave most customers the chance to escape serious injury.

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