Indians flee blast at Australian cafe

Melbourne, Nov 2

A group of Indian men, who were sharing a flat above an Internet cafe in this Australian city, were forced to flee after an explosion early Monday morning, a media report said.

Eight residents fled after the blast at the cafe in Melbourne's inner north area early Monday morning, minutes after a suspicious fire at a nearby warehouse, The Age reported Monday.

None of the upstairs residents were injured. The damage to the cafe was estimated at about $200,000.

The Indian men, who were sharing the flat above the Internet Cafe in Sydney Road, Brunswick, were woken by a loud bang just before 1.30 a.m.

The group was prompted by smoke alarms to escape as the cafe's front windows blew out and the brick two-storey building began to burn, Metropolitan Fire Brigade acting commander Steve Dorman said.

The fire gutted the cafe and and a ground-floor residence at the rear of the building where the cafe owners lived.

The upstairs flat escaped damage as about 25 firefighters spent an hour bringing the fire under control.

Minutes before, a fire had spread quickly through the Nutex Paper warehouse in Nicholson Street in East Brunswick as paper products fuelled the flames.

Firefighters managed to contain the damage to the rear of the brick single-storey building.

Both the fires are considered suspicious and are being investigated by police.

The cafe fire led to a large gas leak and barricades were erected to ensure the building did not collapse.

Last updated on Nov 2^nd, 2009 at 12:09 pm IST--IANS

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