Two people were killed and ten injured in a fire at an Italian restaurant in Madrid. A visitor tells Spanish media that things went wrong when a waiter was flambéing a dish.
The newspaper El Pais spoke to several eyewitnesses. A woman said the waiter walked past a column covered with artificial plants while flambéing. They caught fire in the flames, after which the fire quickly spread through the other plastic plants on the walls and ceiling.
Immediately a lot of smoke was released and panic broke out. According to the fire brigade in Madrid, people had difficulty escaping because the fire had started at the entrance. There were an estimated sixty people in the restaurant.
Choking smoke
The Spanish broadcaster RTVE writes based on police sources that the two dead are young men. One of them is said to have worked at the Italian restaurant on Plaza de Manuel Becerra, in the center of Madrid. Six injured are in serious condition.
After the first report, around 11 p.m. last night, the fire brigade rushed to the restaurant en masse. The corps were quickly on the scene and had the fire under control relatively quickly, but due to the intensity of the fire, firefighters still had to save twelve people inside.
Even for the restaurant, the suffocating smoke made it difficult to breathe, eyewitnesses said.
