JEDDAH, 16 December 2006 — Two more people died as a result of a gas cylinder explosion that took place in a small restaurant in front of King Abdul Aziz University last Tuesday, bringing the death toll from the accident to three, informed sources said.
Muhammad Ibrahim Badawood, 17, was the latest victim who died of deep lacerations caused by flying glass. The third victim wasn’t identified.
Badawood died at the intensive care unit of a Jeddah hospital, where he was admitted soon after the incident.
Abdullah Muhammad Ali, a 21-year-old Yemeni national who worked as a security guard, was killed on the spot. He was in the huge crowd that gathered around the accident scene.
Civil Defense authorities launched an investigation into the accident to determine the reason for the explosion that also injured 25 others, mostly bystanders.
Preliminary investigations showed that the gas cylinder exploded as a result of a fire that broke out in the restaurant’s kitchen. The explosion caused heavy damages to the Papa Burger restaurant and nearby shops.
Of the 25 injured, 21 people were reportedly bystanders who had gathered around to watch efforts to extinguish the fire.
Badawood was a secondary school student. His body was buried at the Faisaliya Graveyard on Thursday after funeral prayers attended by a large number of people.
Most of the people injured in the incident have already left hospital after necessary treatment.
Musaifer Al-Dahas, owner of the building where the restaurant is located, said he was at the scene at the time of the explosion.
“When I went to the restaurant to put out the fire, the explosion occurred. After that I did not know anything as I was taken to hospital,” he said.
Al-Dahas had sustained wounds in his face and right leg. His brother Faisal Al-Dahas said he was at his office in a nearby building when he heard cries for help. He saw the blaze in the adjoining building and brought fire fighters to put out the fire. Misfar, another of Al-Dahas brothers, also got injured in his shoulders, hand and leg.
The restaurant’s front was completely destroyed in the blast. Three shops on each side off the eatery sustained damage. Cars parked in front the facility were also damaged.
Nader Noor, owner of a stationery shop near the restaurant, said he disconnected electricity to the building to prevent the fire from spreading. “I was inside the stationery and I remained there to take cover,” Al-Madinah Arabic daily quoted Noor as saying.
Among the injured were three South Asian workers at the restaurant.
