An explosion left three people injured in a restaurant in Teresópolis, Brazil, when a waiter added alcohol to a lit centerpiece. The incident occurred on Saturday night and was recorded by a security camera. One of the customers was seriously injured.
In the images, you can see the waiter at the Mad Garden restaurant, Júlio Cesar Sobrinho, 43, approaching with a white container with a flammable liquid. There were five people around the table: three women and two men, one of whom was standing. As soon as the waiter poured the liquid, a huge flame occurred.
One of the customers was directly hit by the flames and other customers and employees ran to help him. The waiter and another customer were also slightly injured.
The two clients were transferred to the Hospital das Clínicas de Teresópolis. The person most affected by the fire was identified as Thiago Hernández Guimarães Homem. He was sitting right in front of the waiter. He suffered severe burns to 40% of his body.
The other injured client, Gabriel Gerhard Santos Félix, who was standing, gave details of the episode. “The fireplace was already lit and a woman who was with Tiago and his wife asked to light it again, when the waiter added the liquid an explosion occurred. I saw the images now, I didn’t even remember I was standing, it all happened so fast. I ran, took off my shirt and went to see my wife,” recalled the man, who suffered first-degree burns on his hands, arms and face.
The most affected person suffered severe burns to 40% of his body.
According to Gabriel, the waiter also suffered burns on his arm.
The police opened an investigation for negligent bodily harm, when there is no intention to cause harm, which carries a prison sentence of two to eight years.
“We are investigating whether there really was common liquid alcohol in the container and if there was adequate training to use this type of bonfire at the table, this fact will not go unpunished,” commissioner Márcio Dubugras told the Netdiario site.
