Flambé fire kills two after freak accident in Spanish capital Madrid - leaving 10 injured
24 April 2023, 08:28
A fire in an Italian restaurant in Madrid killed two people on Friday night after the eatery was inadvertently set ablaze by a waiter who was flambéeing a dish.
The freak accident injured 10 others with one of the casualties in a critical condition after the fire at Burro Canaglia in central Madrid.
A waiter who was flambéeing a dish accidentally caught plastic plants at the front of the restaurant alight - with the blaze quickly getting out of control.
The placement of the fire made it difficult for diners to escape before firefighters arrives after ten minutes and extinguished the blaze.
It has been confirmed that one of the people who died in the fire was an employee of the restaurant.
Flambéeing is a cooking technique which involves using a small blow-torch, commonly known as a blow-lamp, to set food alight to complete the dish.
Reports claim that the dish being garnished was a pizza.
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The food is set in flammable spirits and then set on fire for a short time before it is extinguished - often imbuing it with a smokey flavour.
Madrid's mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida described the short-lived fire as "extremely intense" and said it had caused a "lot of smoke" despite being put out relatively quickly.
The mayor has ordered an investigation into the fire which was witness by 30 diners and staff on a busy Friday night in the Spanish capital.
Almeida had been due to visit Barcelona on Saturday - but cancelled the trip to visit the site of the tragedy.
