Hanoi - At least 10 people were hospitalized with severe facial burnsin southern Vietnam after a table-top grill exploded at a wedding party, a policeman said Monday. The gas cylinder exploded in a restaurant in Dong Nai province, 60 kilometres north-east of Ho Chi Minh City, on Sunday, burning the faces and hands of eight people sitting at the table and two others sitting nearby, according to local policeman Tang Van Giac.
All of the victims were immediately rushed to a nearby hospital.
Grilling meat or boiling soup on tables is common in Vietnamese restaurants.
"We are investigating the case, but it seems the gas cylinder being used at the restaurant was too old and rusty," said the policeman.
There were nearly 500 people at the wedding party, which resumed after the injured people had been hospitalized.
"The bride and the groom were unhurt," Giac said.
