A gas explosion has left one injured and temporarily shuttered a popular coffee shop/restaurant off of B Ring Road near the Al Jaidah Flyover.
The blast took place yesterday afternoon shortly after 3pm at Indian Coffee House on Fareej Abdul Aziz Street.
Because it was a break time for the restaurant, no customers were inside when the explosion happened, Noushad CK, CEO of Shelter International Group, which owns the coffee shop, told Doha News.
However, two staff were present at the time of the blast, including an employee who was cleaning the kitchen.
He may have accidentally disconnected the pipe that attaches one of the restaurant’s metal gas cylinders to the stove burner, causing a leak, CK said.
The force of the eventual explosion shattered the front windows of the restaurant, and the staffer was treated for minor burns on his arm before being released from the hospital yesterday, CKÂ said.
He added that he believed the restaurant would reopen within four to five days, after the glass panes are replaced and the kitchen is repaired.
Gas cylinder safety
Yesterday’s blast comes a year after a deadly gas explosion that originated from a Turkish restaurant near Landmark Mall.
The cause of that blast was apparently a pizza oven that had not been turned off properly. The leaking gas eventually was ignited by a spark from kitchen equipment, and the explosion was so strong it affected several neighboring shops, killing 11 people and injured dozens of others.
Qatar authorities have long cautioned residents to take care when cooking with gas, saying in the event of a leak, to immediately open all doors and windows to help dissipate the gas.
They add that people should not turn on the exhaust fan for ventilation or switch on the lights, because that may ignite the flammable gas.
In an effort to further boost safety, Qatar Fuel (Woqod) has this week launched a new campaign to motivate people to switch from metal cylinders to the newer, safer Shafaf ones.
Those who trade in their old metal cylinders between March 1 and May 31 will be given a discount of QR100 on the new containers, so that the price would be QR265 instead of QR365, the Peninsula reports.
Citing a senior Woqod official, the newspaper said there are about 600,000 metal cylinders in the market, compared to 150,000 Shafaf ones, which are considered safer due to leakage protection.
Thoughts?
“Mental Cylinders”??
Oh come on y’all…fixed it.
It is “mental” what’s happening around us.
This happens to me every time I eat Indian food.
Take my upvote! Made my day!
You sir, deserve more upvotes!
Boom! Panes
Fire in the Hole..(°)
Slowly clapping
Pun
This is really worrying. Going for a coffee in Qatar has become a game of Russian roulette.
I went there once. Would’ve enjoyed it more if the prado driving manpower owners wouldn’t have stared at me and my wife the whole time. Yes, I was offended 🙂 I wanted to invite them to watch the food coming out aswell to complete the cycle. Employ people that are accustomed to fire…might stop these accidents.
I feel you. Now imagine walking with your wife in a mall full of people staring at your wife. But how did the authorities solve this issue?
Are you suggesting they limit the entry of Asian men to malls
Yes. Like they do at the Souk Waqif.
I know what you mean…i started to walk to them now and asking if there is a problem…
Oh yea, this staring thing is really creepy.
To make it more challenging you should visit Safari Mall 🙂
If there are safer cylinders, (meaning that the old ones are dangerous) the replacement scheme should be mandatory.
The exchange incentive scheme should also be much larger to provide meaningful motivation for those who currently use the old type. It should also extended more than a month to ensure that there is a FULL change of all old cylinders.
The price reduction could be scaled; providing more of a rebate to those who exchange cylinders quicker, (in the first week or month) and then gradually reduced over a longer period of time.
This would for sure cost the gas company some money in the short term, but they are obviously dealing with long term repeat customs and will easily recoup these loses.
This is a serious issues here in Qatar. The authories and companies involved should be doing everything possible to prevent this happening again.
Woqod offers discount to promote Shafaf
http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/news/qatar/325758/woqod-offers-discount-to-promote-shafaf
I did read the article before commenting, and am aware that they are offering a discount. My point was that the discount should be larger and offered for longer.
Just picking up ion this, WOQOD will run this promotion for at least a year. The reason the promotion period stated is three months is that that’s the maximum time allowed for a licence for a promotion. WOQOD will simply apply for additional 3 month promotion periods are the prior 3 months periods come to an end.
Some people are just cheap
When we first moved here were surprised cylinders are still being widely used as opposed to centralized system. Some things just aren’t safe!
In todays edition of the Peninsula, its a totally different story. As per Peninsula the storyline is below:
Some customers reportedly suffered minor injuries following a suspected gas cylinder blast at Indian Coffee House restaurant near Jaidah Flyover in Doha yesterday afternoon. The restaurant was full of customers when the incident occurred at around 3.30pm. There were no serious casualties, sources said. The main glass door was broken, apparently when customers rushed out in panic. No fire was reported after the blast. Police and Civil Defence team rushed to the site and cordoned off the area. Investigation continues…….
Which is true?
Good Question. Shabina?
They do mention in the article that the facts are presented through the CEO’s eyes…I would expect him to say someone sneezed and someone else got spooked and tipped a chair on the window. What’s his full name? The CK part doesn’t promote transparency.
Oh yeah.. CK may be short form of his family name. Normally Malabari ( Kerala) names are lengthy and difficult to read for other nationalities, so they keep abrev. This may be expanded like Chembinthazhe Kulathinakarayil or so .
We went to the scene ourselves and also spoke to management. The newspaper cites “sources.” You decide.
Get well soon… Allah bless you…
……but please don’t allow the restaurant to re open before the guys who may have accidentally disconnected the pipe that attaches one of the restaurant’s metal gas cylinders to the stove burner, causing a leak are sent for proper safety training so that they are made aware that their careless attitude and actions can cause a major disaster
Its the Methane gas that comes out from their bodies that exploded. you know what i mean.
Creepy but true 🙂
Racist much?? Insensitive for sure.. Anyways no one finds the joke offensive if it’s not about the ones on the pedestal.. So laugh away..