Five people were hurt when a gas explosion tore through a cafe in Ajman.
The four members of staff and a gas company worker were taken to hospital after the blast at Feza Cafe in the Al Rashidiya district on Tuesday.
The cafe workers have since been discharged from hospital while the fifth man, who was at the premises to replace an empty gas cylinder, is still receiving treatment.
Residents told of seeing the injured men fleeing the building “bleeding and screaming”.
Cafe owner Saju Suleiman is facing a hefty repair bill of Dh200,000 but is relieved those involved were not more badly hurt.
“It’s fine, the place is insured. What is more important is that all the men came out of it safe,” he said.
Mr Suleiman, 38, said the worker was replacing the gas cylinder at the time of the explosion.
A Pakistani technician, who was installing surveillance cameras on a nearby building, said that the blast happened as he was climbing up the ladder to finish his work.
“The sound was horrifying. There were a couple of customers right outside the cafe’s door who were not harmed,” he said. “But the men who were inside, about four or five as I recall, ran outside screaming and bleeding.”
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Another resident said the explosion was so loud he thought it was in his own building.
“I was sitting in my room when I heard the terrifying bang. I thought it was the lift crashing down,” said Egyptian Mohammed Mahmoud.
Mohammed Tayye, an Indian tailor in a shop 300 metres from the cafe, said he saw “bleeding men running out of the cafe, then in a few minutes police, civil defence and an ambulance arrived”.
Lt Col Mustafa Sultan Al Ali of Ajman Civil Defence sent a safety note to business owners about the installation and servicing of gas equipment.