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Just a heads up if you were planning on popping by the Gardens Centre to pick up a few things – don’t.

Via News24:

Five people have been injured in a gas explosion at a restaurant at Gardens Shopping Centre in Cape Town on Thursday afternoon, the city’s fire and rescue services said.

Spokesperson Theo Layne said the explosion took place at the Pulp Kitchen [pictured above] on the first floor.

The fire had since been extinguished.

Three fire engines and three fire rescue vehicles with 21 firefighters were on scene.

The centre was evacuated.

That image above was taken by Willem Law.

When I passed by at around 4:15PM, the whole place was on lockdown and cordoned off. Here’s a video from outside, taken around the same time:

Staff members and shoppers standing outside Gardens Shopping Centre where a gas explosion took place. KP pic.twitter.com/FAt7G8ONbb

— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) July 5, 2018

No word on how seriously injured the five people are, so we can only hope for the best.

An updated story from later in the day puts the number of injured people at nine, with two seriously injured.

UPDATE: Via the Sowetan:

Greg Swartz‚ who works at Hammer & Tongs Hardware on the centre‚ said he heard someone kicking open a fire escape door just after 3pm. He saw water flowing down the stairs and realised there was a fire in the building.

“The sprinklers kicked in and we were marshalled out of the building‚” said Swartz.

“The kitchen staff got injured‚ two severely and the other three sustained minor burns. You could smell the gas in the air. It’s the first time something like this has happened in the 19 years I have worked in this centre.”

Lisa Ntsebeza said she was eating lunch when she heard an explosion. “I jumped up and followed people who were rushing out of the centre. I went to the restaurant and found the staff lying down. Their clothes were stuck to their bodies. I helped to tear their clothes off. They are severely injured.

“After that we evacuated. It’s the first time I have experienced such an incident in my working life.”

Tragic news.

[source:news24]