Ravenshoe cafe blast: eight people in critical condition in hospital
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Version 0 of 1. Eight people remain in a critical condition in Queensland hospitals after a gas bottle explosion that injured 20 people in the state’s far north. The blast was triggered when an out-of-control ute rammed into a cafe at Ravenshoe, south of Cairns, on Tuesday afternoon, prompting seven medical transfers of severely injured people to the burns unit of the Royal Brisbane and Women’s hospital. “The treatment of these people will be going on for months, if not years,” said Queensland’s chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young. Twenty people were in the cafe at the time, many of whom suffered severe burns. A Queensland Health spokesman says six people, including an 82-year-old woman, have been transferred to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital’s intensive care burns unit. He said 20 people in total remained in hospitals across the state, including in Cairns, Atherton and Townsville. A member of the Ravenshoe chamber of commerce, Ken Jack, said the community was still reeling. “If you didn’t know someone in the cafe, you were someone who was helping someone in the street,” Jack said. “We still don’t have the list of who was injured, but everyone is totally affected because they helped or know someone involved. “I hate to say it was a bomb scene, but people were lying in the street with the local bank manager over them, helping them.” He said the chamber has started a fundraising campaign to help the burns victims’ long road to recovery. Jack said while the tight-knit community was generous and helped out where it could, most residents could not afford to help the victims and their families travel to Brisbane for treatment. “This is going to be a long, hard road,” Jack said. “We thought the best way to help would be to focus on their long-term recovery – burns are horrible and take a long time to heal.” |