Terrified diners flee UK restaurant after 'sparkler in drink' causes huge inferno

Terrified diners were forced to run for their lives when a restaurant turned into a fireball over the weekend.

Customers at Caffe Di Milano in Birmingham went into a frenzy when a fire erupted on Saturday (4 February) night. See how the chaos unfolded:

It's thought the blaze was started by a 'sparkler' in "an alcoholic drink, which ignited wall decorations."

Shocking footage posted on social media shows the carnage that ensued when one of the interior walls of the restaurant caught light.

In the short clip, diners can be seen running around in a panic as one member of staff attempts to douse water over the flame.

Eventually, the sprinkler system was activated and the fire was put out.

Luckily, no one was reported as having been injured as a result of the incident.

A spokesperson for West Midlands Fire Service said the blaze was under control by the time they arrived at the scene.

"We were called at 11pm to Caffe Di Milano on Hurst Street," they said.

"We sent two crews. The fire was out on arrival - the staff had managed to put the fire out before we got there.

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"We made sure it was safe and completed damping down and cutting away of anything that wasn't safe. The stop came at 11.27pm."

This comes a few weeks after diners at a London restaurant experienced a similar situation over Christmas.

MNKY HSE London - popular amongst the Love Island celebs - is a Latin American fine dining restaurant in Mayfair.

Footage posted to social media back in December showed a horrifying blaze rip through the restaurant while customers frantically tried to rush out of the venue.

Three hundred people were evacuated by staff at the popular celeb hang out, while five fire engines and around 35 firefighters attended the scene.

A man and a woman were also treated by the ambulance on site.

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"Firefighters were called to a fire at a restaurant on Dover Street in Mayfair," the London Fire Brigade said.

"Christmas decorations inside the building were alight and had been extinguished before firefighters arrived.

"Around 300 people were evacuated by on-site staff and crews carried out a systematic search of the property to ensure no one was inside on arrival.

"A man and a woman were treated on scene by London Ambulance Service crews.

"Dover Street was closed whilst crews worked to make the scene safe. The Brigade was called at 2140 and the incident was over for firefighters by 2218.

"Five fire engines and around 35 firefighters from Soho, Lambeth, Kensington and Chelsea fire stations attended the scene.

"The cause of the fire is under investigation."