MAHO--A fire destroyed C-Lounge restaurant on Sunday close to 8:00pm.
Police spokesman Chief Inspector Ricardo Henson said, “The Emergency Dispatch Centre received several phone calls informing them that the C-Lounge restaurant located on the premises of Alegría Hotel in the Beacon Hill/Maho Reef area was on fire and the possibility existed for this fire to expand. Immediately police patrols and the Fire Department were sent to the scene to investigate what had taken place.
“On the scene traffic had stopped going into and out of Beacon Hill in order for the Fire Department to carry out their work.”
Police said that, according to witnesses, shortly before the fire started a very loud explosion had come from the direction of C-Lounge restaurant, which at the time was closed to the public. There was no one in the building during the fire. What caused the explosion is still unclear and will be investigated by the Forensic Department, which also was notified along with the Detectives.
The Daily Herald spoke to a man who had witnessed the incident and said he had seen a man throw what looked like a Molotov cocktain into the empty restaurant.
He said, “I was relaxing outside when I saw a Caucasian man walk up to the restaurant. He threw a ball of fire and ran. He came back after a while and ran away again towards the Beacon Hill area. When the police and Fire Department came almost 30 minutes after, I told the policemen what I saw and they told me that the Beacon Hill area is very dark.”
The witness also described the man he had seen as having broad shoulders and wearing a dark-coloured hoodie that concealed his face
No one was injured during the fire, which was brought under control quickly by the Fire Department. However, the fire destroyed the entire inside of the building. Police have started an investigation.
