Cafe owners rush to daughter’s bedside
The owners of a far north Queensland cafe gutted in a freak gas explosion face a heartbreaking journey home from their European holiday, with their daughter one of three people left fighting for their lives.
At least 19 people were hospitalised after a four-wheel-drive utility ploughed into gas bottles during Tuesday’s lunchtime rush at the Serves You Right Cafe at Ravenshoe, southwest of Cairns, sparking an explosion.
Three of the victims – two women, aged 37 and 59, and a 56-year-old man – are in critical condition.
The 37-year-old woman, who is in Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital with burns to 80 per cent of her body, is the daughter of the cafe owners.
‘‘The guy and his wife who own the cafe – who are lovely, lovely people – are having a well-earned rest in Europe,’’ their friend, Jane Rodwell, has told the ABC. ‘‘I guess they’ll be coming home because it’s their daughter.’’
The 59-year-old woman is also in the hospital’s burns unit, while the man was flown there from Townsville Hospital yesterday.
A Cairns health district spokesman said some of the 14 patients in far north Queensland hospitals – including Cairns, Atherton and Innisfail – would also be sent to specialist units in Brisbane.
There are also two people, a 20-yearold woman and a 48-year-old man, in Townsville Hospital in a stable condition.
The 12 women, six men and one girl who were hospitalised range in age from 15 to 82.
Two of the victims were firefighters who were having lunch when the blast happened. One has burns to half his body, while the other has burns to 20 per cent.
Tablelands Regional Council mayor Rosa Lee Long says the incident has left the town in shock.
A police spokesman said the driver of the utility was a 60-year-old man but could not confirm reports he ran off the road due to a heart attack.