Restaurant in Ruwi gutted

Grill House, one of the most popular eating places in Muscat, was gutted by a fire which broke out in the early hours of Friday near Civic Piazza in the centre of Ruwi. No injuries or fatalities were reported.

"I have lost everything," Ashok Laungani, the distraught owner of the multi-cuisine restaurant, told Gulf News yesterday. To add to his woes, the Indian expatriate had forgotten to renew insurance for his restaurant.

He said after the preliminary investigations, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) told him that the fire was caused by gas leakage and several people in the neighbourhood confirmed that a huge blast was heard.

However, all the gas cylinders, placed outside the restaurant, were intact. Even the ROP's Civil Defence men confirmed the blast, said Laungani. Its impact was so huge that the plaster on the walls of the Omani Development Bank's building, across the road, chipped off as an exhaust fan from the restaurant hit that building.

According to an eyewitness, the Omani caretaker of the Civic Piazza garden who was sleeping on top of the restaurant building had a miraculous escape.

The area around the Civic Piazza tower was littered with glass shards. "I have lost everything and the total cost will be over RO50,000," Laungani said, adding that the structure was completely destroyed.

The property is owned by the Muscat Municipality.