Restaurant owner injured in fire

A fire at a popular Chinese restaurant in Sangre Grande on the morning of September 14, left one person hospitalised and several workers without a job.

According to a senior fire official, the owner of Chinese Garden restaurant along the Eastern Main Road, suffered burns to his face and hands and is currently being treated at the Sangre Grande hospital. He said the restaurant was also "totally destroyed."

According to reports, the owner opened his business around 11 am and began cooking dishes for sale. However, oil from the pot somehow splattered resulting in a raging flame that burnt the owner and was suddenly burning out of control. The flames quickly spread and engulfed the entire restaurant.

Workers at the restaurant had to scamper to escape the inferno. There were reportedly no customers when the incident happened. The owner's mother, who lives upstairs the restaurant, was also rescued and was unharmed.

A woman, who works at a nearby business, said she was left shocked and slightly shaken by the incident. "I started to see smoke. Yuh just seeing smoke coming up to the air," she said.

She said when she came to work earlier in the morning, she had seen the owner and his mother relaxing upstairs. "It was really a surprise to me. I didn't like the situation."

She commended the fire service for extinguishing the fire but felt they could have responded "a little bit faster, considering the fire station is right there."