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At Least 77 Hurt After Gas Cylinder Explodes in Southern Spain

Video on social media showed people fleeing a fire inside a restaurant called "La Bohemia" in Velez-Malaga. None of the injuries are life-threatening.
Image: Police and rescue services are pictured at the scene after a gas cylinder exploded in a cafe in Velez-Malaga
Police and rescue services are pictured at the scene after a gas cylinder exploded in a cafe in Velez-Malaga, Spain October 1, 2016 in this still image taken from video.Wikono via Reuters TV

MADRID — At least 77 people have been injured, five of them seriously, after a gas cylinder exploded on Saturday in a restaurant in the Spanish town of Velez-Malaga on the southern coast, a spokesman for the Andalucia region's emergency unit said.

Image: Police and rescue services are pictured at the scene after a gas cylinder exploded in a cafe in Velez-Malaga
Police and rescue services are pictured at the scene after a gas cylinder exploded in a cafe in Velez-Malaga, Spain October 1, 2016 in this still image taken from video.Wikono via Reuters TV

The spokesman said the explosion occurred at about 1 p.m. ET during a festival in the town, which is 40 km (almost 25 miles) east of the popular tourist destination of Malaga.

Video footage posted on social media showed people fleeing a fire inside a small restaurant called "La Bohemia" close to the center of Velez-Malaga, with the street outside covered in debris.

None of those seriously injured were at risk of death, a spokesman for the local hospital said. The majority of injuries were cuts and bruises.

El Pais newspaper said a cook at the restaurant was able to alert customers to a fire in the kitchen, which gave most enough time to escape serious injury.