Spain: Restaurant fire kills 2 in Madrid

Two people died in a fire at a restaurant in the Spanish capital Madrid after the waiter flambeed a dish, local media reported Saturday citing eyewitnesses.

The flames from the technique — which involves pouring alcohol on top of the dish and setting it alight — caused decorations to catch fire at an Italian restaurant at Plaza Manuel Becerra in the central Salamanca neighborhood, El Pais daily wrote.

The fire broke out late Friday evening near the restaurant's only exit and spread quickly, according to the fire brigade. 

Madrid's SAMUR emergency services "treated 12 people in this disaster," two of whom died, Montse Marcos, a manager at the organization, told journalists.

Among the ten injured, six were taken to hospital with serious injuries, Marcos added.

Flambe trick went wrong, say witnesses

Witnesses told the El Pais daily that the waiter had used a French technique known as flambeeing on one customer's dish.

The technique is often done tableside to dramatic effect and to give the dish a smoky flavor.

The waiter reportedly had the plate in flames in one hand, and the blowtorch in the other.

The diner told the paper that the waiter "passed by a column of plants and in a matter of seconds everything burned."

Another witness told the newspaper the flames spread fast and the smoke made it impossible to breathe.

Some of the guests fled to the back of the restaurant, where they could not escape, officials said.

Waiter and customer died in blaze

According to Spanish media, the waiter was one of those killed, and the other was a patron of the restaurant.

Firefighters were able to respond quickly as their station was only a few hundred meters from the restaurant.

"People came running to the fire station. Our response time was very fast because half of the crew went running and the other half with vehicles," said Madrid fire chief Carlos Marin.

Madrid regional leader Isabel Diaz Ayuso sent her condolences on social media.

"All my love to the relatives of those who died in the Manuel Becerra fire and a wish for a speedy recovery to the injured. Thank you, once again, to the emergency services for their extraordinary work," she wrote.

Spanish police are now investigating the exact cause of the fire.

mm/dj(AFP, dpa, Reuters)