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A diner who was caught in a gas-canister explosion at a Kowloon Bay restaurant last week has spoken publicly for the first time about the incident, saying a flying fragment narrowly missed her eye and accusing the restaurant of mishandling the aftermath, according to Sing Tao Probe, a sister publication of The Standard.
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The incident occurred on July 30 at the Tao Heung restaurant inside Telford Plaza, where a portable butane stove exploded during a hotpot dinner. The victim, identified only as Miss T, said staff had replaced a non-functional induction cooker with the gas stove shortly before the blast.
“A few minutes later, I heard a popping sound from the stove, but it kept burning,” she recalled. “Not long after, there was another, louder pop, but we didn’t smell anything unusual.”
After a staff member checked the stove and prepared to replace it, the portable stove exploded on the table before they could act.
“The gas canister shot out, sending everything flying,” Miss T said.
“Then I touched my shoulder and realized a tiny fragment had flown toward my eye. I thought, ‘Am I going to die?’ If I hadn’t dodged, I might have lost my sight,” she added.
Miss T said she and her companion were left in shock and initially froze after the sudden explosion. Once she realized she was not seriously injured, she tried to preserve the scene as evidence, only to find that restaurant staff had already cleared the table.
“I heard the police and firefighters asking the manager to provide the gas canister and stove for inspection, but the manager said they had already been thrown away as rubbish,” she said.
She added that soup and food had soaked her clothes, including her underwear, leaving her drenched and embarrassed. Apart from offering her napkins to wipe herself down, the restaurant provided no further assistance or discussed compensation, instead asking her to submit a dry-cleaning receipt for reimbursement. She eventually wrapped a jacket around herself before leaving.
Although the restaurant appeared to become more proactive after the incident drew public attention, Miss T said that concern seemed limited to office hours. She said she had told the manager on the night of the incident that she would only be available to discuss the matter after 5pm because of work. Despite this, the group's public relations department repeatedly called her shortly after 9am while she was at work.
Miss T said she declined to discuss the matter over the phone because she wanted to keep a written record of the communication. When she tried to contact the company after finishing work at around 5pm, however, she was unable to reach anyone. It was only after the weekend that she received a reply stating that the office was closed on weekends and that the case had been referred to the company's insurance provider.
“The past two days, my hands have been shaking, and I haven’t been able to sleep,” Miss T said. “I don’t know how to handle this.”
She urged the restaurant to face the issue, apologize and take responsibility.
Tao Heung’s customer service department said the case had been referred to the relevant department for follow-up.
