Korean BBQ explosion in Darwin sends five diners to hospital

An explosion at a Darwin restaurant has left five people injured with non-life-threatening burns.

The explosion happened at Little Miss Korea, in Austin Lane, just after 8pm on Wednesday 7 September, with the NT Fire and Rescue Service and NT WorkSafe now investigating.

The explosion is said to have occurred after a Korean barbecue hotplate or "cooker" ignited.

"It looks like one of the cookers, that are a mixture of coals and gas, subsequently ignited and caused injuries to about five occupants sitting around the table," Northern Territory Police Northern Watch Commander Josh Cunningham said.  

The five diners were taken to Royal Darwin Hospital for treatment. 

"One was relatively serious, but they are all non-life-threatening," Cunningham said.

The fire was contained to the one table and did not spread throughout the restaurant.

The building was evacuated as the Austin Lane outdoor markets were underway outside.

Four people are in a serious but stable condition, and is in a stable condition. 

Several have already been discharged.

"[They're] not life threatening burns but did require treatment and transport to the Royal Darwin Hospital, where they were all recovering overnight," St John Ambulance NT operations manager Craig Garraway said.

"Thankfully they'll all make a full recovery out of this."

The incident sparked a full response from police, firefighters and paramedics.

"The nature of the [report] at the start was that it was quite unknown, so as a result we put everything we could," Watch Commander Cunningham said. 

The explosion looks to be user error and "the result of the patrons around the table at the time.

"It's still under review, but that's what it's looking like at the moment," Cunningham said.

Irit Jackson, 8^th September 2022