Bomb witness tells of 'wall of flames'

A car bomb exploded on Saturday evening outside a popular Cape Town restaurant, slightly injuring three people, police and emergency officials said.

A five-year-old who complained of ear pains after the explosion was taken to a clinic for treatment, Dr Wayne Smith of Metro Rescue Services said. Two adults who suffered slight bruises to their legs refused treatment, he said.

The bomb, placed in a car parked outside the New York Bagel and Deli, went off at 7.45 pm, said police spokesperson Riaan Poole.

Leon Swanepoel was dining with friends in the restaurant's upstairs section.

"We heard the explosion," he said. "There was a wall of flames. The heat was tremendous. I thought it was a gas explosion."

He shouted to his friends to get down, and they crawled under the table, where they remained until a security guard came and told them to leave the restaurant through a back door.

Restaurant employee Sharon Mazula described the sound of the explosion as a "thunder clap."

The restaurant's roof was blown off, and its windows were shattered.

Police cordoned off the area near the restaurant, which is located in Sea Point, a neighbourhood popular among tourists.

"We are busy checking for another bomb," Poole said.

He did not elaborate on a motive for the bombing.

The bomb was placed in a stolen car, said Lennit Max, provincial police commissioner. The attack may be linked to a homemade bomb that was found outside the same restaurant last month, he said. Explosive experts defused that bomb, and no one was injured.

The discovery of that bomb raised fears that a series of Cape Town bombings that killed two people and injured more than 100 since August 1998 and appeared to have ended in January might resume.

Police have previously accused a vigilante group called People Against Gangsterism and Drugs for those explosions.

Although no one has been arrested for most of the attacks, police claim the culprits - some of them Pagad members and supporters - may already be behind bars on other charges, a claim that appeared to be validated by the lack of attacks since January. - Sapa-AP