DUBAI // Two barmen who burnt three customers when a trick they were performing with blazing bottles of rum went wrong were yesterday each fined Dh10,000.
The Misdemeanours Court found M?K, 22, from the Czech Republic and the South African P?E, 47, guilty of endangering customers at the Mahiki nightclub at Jumeirah Beach Hotel.
It referred their case to the Civil Court, which will rule on what compensation should be paid to the victims.
The two men were juggling burning bottles of rum when flames leapt across the bar of the nightclub setting customers’ clothes alight and causing second-degree burns.
The shirts of Egyptian financial manager H?A, 27, and L?E, 23, a British air hostess, caught fire and the flames spread to their skin.
“I was stunned to see my hand on fire and thought it was caused by someone’s cigarette … but in seconds the fire spread to my upper body,” recalled the Egyptian. “I tried to take off my shirt, but couldn’t. Then a man managed to rip it off.”
The two were taken to Rashid Hospital along with a French tourist, M?L, 40, who was also badly burnt.
The hostess suffered burns to her face, neck, chest and upper limbs, and required cosmetic surgery.
Both barmen denied the charge in court and each blamed the other for adding too much rum to the bottle that exploded.
The Czech barman said he had just finished his show when he heard screaming.
“In seconds the fire spread to a number of customers,” he added.
salamir@thenational.ae
