Horror restaurant explosion leaves children injured in holiday hotspot filled with Brits

At least eight people have been injured after a gas explosion tore through a restaurant in a popular European holiday destination. A blast was reported at Restaurante Meson Morisco in Malaga, Spain, at around 8.15pm on Monday.

Among the eight injured treated by paramedics were a two-year-old and a seven-year-old, though none required immediate hospitalisation. Local reports said around 50 people were inside the restaurant at the time of the explosion, many of whom had gathered to watch Spain’s football match against Cape Verde.

Local resident Marisa Vilches said she was at home watching TV at the time of the incident when her daughter informed her of what happened.

She told SUR: “I heard an explosion at home. At the time, I thought it was an earthquake.”

Marisa then ran towards the restaurant, thinking something may have happened to the manager. When she arrived, she saw the devastating scene and was told there were no serious casualties.

She added: “Thank God, there were no injuries, only material damage.”

María del Carmen Rodríguez described a similar experience, saying the windows in her house “rattled from the explosion, which sounded “like a bomb”. She said: “It was like a bomb, just like a bomb.”

Authorities said the explosion appeared to have been caused by a leaky gas cylinder, which completely destroyed the restaurant’s upper floor and partially damaged the adjacent building.

An elderly woman living in the flat above escaped unharmed “by a miracle”, neighbours said, and has temporarily moved into a holiday cottage with her daughter while the building’s safety is assessed.

The restaurant said the tenant was evacuated “without incident”, and the minor injuries sustained were caused by small pieces of glass falling from the upper facade. The premises will remain closed until further notice.

Emergency crews removed the remaining gas canisters from the wreckage to prevent a further incident, and an investigation into the cause of the explosion has been launched by the Guardia Civil.