A man who sparked a gas explosion inside Braddon McDonald's on Sunday night has been flown to a Sydney hospital in a critical condition with burns to around 15 per cent of his body.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Police said the Giralang man, 41, walked into the restaurant on the ground floor of the Medina Serviced Apartments and set alight a 9 kilogram bottle of gas he carried with him about 9pm.
Paramedics treated the man at the scene before he was taken to the Canberra Hospital with potentially life-threatening injuries.
He was assessed late on Sunday night and flown to Concord Hospital about midnight for further treatment. No other staff or customers were injured in the explosion.
Residents of the building on the corner of Mort Street and Cooyong Street said there was some initial confusion after an alarm went off downstairs in the McDonald's restaurant, but that police then evacuated the building by knocking on all of the complex's doors.
Rochelle Bailey, who lives on the second floor, said she had heard a loud explosion."We were right above McDonald's, the drive through entrance, on the second floor and I heard a loud explosion.
"I actually thought a car might have crashed into the driveway then I heard the fire alarm so I grabbed my child and we headed down to reception."
"When someone from the building came out she said she heard people wailing and screaming."
Firefighters escorted small groups of customers from the restaurant's Mort Street door, while others searched the drive-through entrance.
About 20 McDonald's staff, some of whom appeared teary and shaken, gathered outside the 7-Eleven service station on the other side of Mort Street.
Police interviewed staff who worked in the rear of the restaurant. However, staff declined to comment to media about the incident.
A McDonald's Australia spokeswoman said the affected staff had been offered counselling.
McDonald's had also passed on CCTV footage from the store to police.
The force of the blast caused the front door of McDonald's to be blown open with glass sprayed across the pavement.
The door of McDonald's has been exploded open - glass everywhere pic.twitter.com/b4IUNBh8GB
Residents were allowed to return to the apartment building at 9.50pm but police warned there could still be a strong gas smell.
Fire crews had left the scene by 11pm but Cooyong Street remained closed between Northbourne Avenue and Lonsdale Street for some hours.
