19 hurt in Australia after pick-up truck crashes into cafe

Officials were invesigating what caused the driver to veer off the road and into the Serves You Right Cafe in Ravenshoe, south of Cairns in Queensland.

SYDNEY // Nineteen people were hurt after a pick-up truck smashed into a cafe in northern Australia on Tuesday, sparking a fire that engulfed the building, police said.

Officials were investigating what caused the driver to veer off the road and into the Serves You Right Cafe in Ravenshoe, south of Cairns in Queensland.

The crash caused a gas cylinder at the cafe to explode, setting off a fire, Queensland police spokesman Todd Saunders said.

Three people suffering serious injuries were airlifted to a hospital in Cairns, Mr Saunders said. The others were being treated at local hospitals. The driver was among those who were hurt.

Rod Sheather, the Queensland Ambulance Service assistant commissioner, said patients were being treated for a “varying degree of burns”.

Kate Lewis, who works in a supermarket across from the cafe, described the scene as horrific.

“We just heard a massive sonic boom and went running out and saw the cafe on fire and lots of burnt people,” she told the Australia’s ABC.

* Associated Press