Latest news with #ZafarHussain
BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Fire-hit Shababs restaurant reopens in Birmingham
A curry house has reopened days after a staff member jumped from a window to escape flames. Shababs owner Zafar Hussain hailed the moment as "mission accomplished" after the Birmingham restaurant's top floor was gutted by a large blaze last Sunday. A separate downstairs kitchen has enabled the site to partially reopen. Mr Hussain said he did not want to lose his regular customers and added he wanted to honour bookings made by people going to Edgbaston to watch test match cricket next week. Costs are likely to total about £200,000, which will eventually be claimed back through insurers, he said. Well-known historian and regular customer Carl Chinn was among the first through the door on what Mr Hussain added was a "fairly busy night" despite reduced capacity."It was an emotional one," Mr Hussain said. "Everyone gave us a tap on the back to say we had done so well." Earlier this week, the 40-year-old told the BBC a lifetime of work by his family had been "burnt to a crisp in ten minutes". The fire was started by an oil fryer that had been left on in an upstairs kitchen and made worse by the use of the wrong fire extinguisher. "A lot of people thought 'that's it, Shababs is forever gone'," Mr Hussain added. "It's just a relief that we are back open again." It is hoped the entire restaurant will be open to diners from next week after staff "got their skates on" in a bid not to lose regulars. Well wishers from as far as Australia have sent words of support and Mr Hussain said the community's response had been "phenomenal". "It was important to me and vital that I reopened the restaurant for my family's sake," he added."My brother and father didn't have it in them to go [and see] the damage, they were just heartbroken. "For me to get it open and get punters in there was a mission accomplished." Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
7 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Birmingham's Shababs Balti House 'to re-open in days after fire'
The owner of one of Birmingham's best known curry houses that was hit by a devastating fire says he is determined to reopen as soon as Hussain wants to be serving customers again as early as Friday, in an unaffected area of the ground floor of Shababs Balti blaze broke out in the kitchen at about 11:00 BST on Sunday, and became so fierce after an incorrect fire extinguisher was used, a member of staff had to escape the flames by climbing out of a first floor was later treated in hospital for burns and smoke inhalation, after a member of the public found a nearby ladder and smashed a window to help him get to safety. Mr Hussain told BBC WM that there were three cleaners and one prep chef in the building at the time of the fire. He said the fire was started by an oil fryer that had been lit in the downstairs kitchen. 'Flames 100 times worse' "We've got a new first floor kitchen which is our main kitchen now. But our chef had lit the fryer and almost forgot about it."When it started flaming up one of the cleaners smelt it on the ground floor. He's gone into the kitchen and seen the big flames, panicked and used the wrong fire extinguisher."The restaurateur said instead of using a chemical based extinguisher for oil fires, the cleaner had used a water-based one, which he said "made it a 100 times worse". "It just engulfed and erupted the whole thing because the extraction was also on - it was fuelling the fire," Mr Hussain other people were treated at the scene by about the staff member's first-floor escape, he said: "A member of the public used a ladder to climb up and smash the window. It was a very lucky escape."Support from the public since the fire has been "phenomenal", he added. "It's been difficult time for us as a family. Our entire lives' work has been burnt to a crisp in 10 minutes. But I'm still thankful as someone could have got really badly injured," said Mr Hussain. "But I feel too strong about Shababs and carrying the torch for Balti and representing Birmingham to the world." Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
