BBQ Horror In Luton

23 July 2011, 07:52 | Updated: 23 July 2011, 08:14

A summer's afternoon party in a park ended in terror yesterday when a gas fired barbecue exploded.

Seven people were engulfed in a fireball and had to be treated in hospital for burns

Three children and one woman suffered serious burns and a further three adults were also taken to hospital with minor burns.

It happened just after 4.30 p.m. on a public playing field off Ashcroft Road,at the rear of Stopsley Fire Station in Luton.

A portable gas fuelled barbecue had been set up in the  and a number of people were standing around it.

There was a sudden explosion resulting in a fireball.

Fire fighters from the nearby fire station at Stopsley were first on the scene and worked with paramedics to treat the casualties using burns gel packs to treat the casualties.

 Ambulance crews from East of England Ambulance Services NHS Trust (EEAST) then arrived, supported by an air ambulance.

Fire Service Incident Commander Kevin Moores said: "The fire crews were first at the scene and were able to provide initial emergency first aid to the casualties, and then work with paramedics and ambulance crews. It appears that the barbecue ignited resulting in a fireball. We are conducting an investigation into the cause of the fire to determine how this happened."

Three children and one woman suffered serious burns and a further three adults were also taken to hospital with minor burns.

Three children aged between six and 11 sustained 15% to 20% burns to their upper limbs and a woman in her 40s suffered severe burns to her airway.

The children were all taken to Luton and Dunstable Hospital by EEAST crews while the woman was given a general anaesthetic and ventilated before being airlifted to the specialist burns unit at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford.

Three more adults were conveyed by ambulance crews to the Lister Hospital in Stevenage with minor burns.