Early morning explosion at Turkish restaurant in Dubai

The force of the blast damaged two villas across the street, as well as a nearby cafe.

The incident at Bosporus restaurant took place at 6.08am and the fire was put out by 6.38am. Victor Besa for The National.

DUBAI // A restaurant was destroyed by a powerful blast on Tuesday, shortly before staff were due to start preparing food for the day.

The interior of the Bosporus restaurant on Jumeirah Beach Road was completely destroyed, windows were blown out and nearby buildings – including two villas across the road – were damaged. No one was injured.

Latif Kurl, manager of the restaurant, said the blast, which occurred near the kitchen just after 6am, was probably caused by a gas explosion.

Mr Kurl said that staff usually arrive at 7am to prepare for the day ahead, so if the blast had happened 45 minutes later it could have been a tragedy.

“It will take time to find the exact cause of the explosion, but they’re 99 per cent sure it was because of the gas,” Mr Kurl said. “We don’t believe there was any foul play.

“The entire interior of the restaurant was destroyed but these are just material things and we have insurance to cover it. We are just happy and thank God that no one was injured in the blast.”

Dubai Civil Defence said the blast and fire started near the main kitchen but that the cause was still under investigation.

“The fire broke out where they grill food,” a spokesman said.

Insurance company inspectors were assessing the damage yesterday afternoon.

Claudia Zimnicka, manager of the nearby Hampton’s Cafe, said the wall of her building closest to the restaurant had cracked and two windows were shattered in the blast.

“We were so lucky with the timing of the explosion because later both restaurants’ employees would have been working and it would have been disastrous,” Ms Zimnicka said.

She said the restaurants in the area had to take extra safety precautions because they operated in converted villas.

“We make sure to bring in people every week to check our restaurants,” Ms Zimnicka said.

“We take huge precautions.”

Mr Kurl said his restaurant was diligent when it came to fire safety. “The restaurant is fully equipped in case of a fire and we have a company that comes to check our gas once a month,” he said.