The party was cut short, Friday evening, at the Relais de la Gare, in Veauche. While the establishment organized, as it does regularly, a karaoke evening, several people were burned at the time of the animation which consists in igniting the counter.
Usually, the bartender uses lighter alcohol which she places all along the counter, before setting it on fire. Which usually only lasts a few seconds. But on Friday, rubbing alcohol was used. At the stroke of 11 p.m., while she was disposing of the flammable liquid, the bartender thinks she saw a customer take out his lighter and set it on fire. The customers along the counter didn’t have time to step aside.
An investigation opened by the gendarmerie
Two of them were seriously burned. They were transported by helicopter to the burns center of the Edouard-Herriot hospital in Lyon.
The other two people, including a 9-year-old child, suffered minor burns. They were transported by firefighters to the North Hospital in Saint-Priest-en-Jarez.
The gendarmerie has opened an investigation to determine the precise circumstances and possibly establish responsibility for this accident.