14 hours ago
Shababs fire heroes hurl rocks to save staff as famous curry house engulfed in flames
Brave passers-by helped rescue staff from a fire at a Birmingham famous curry house by hurling stones to break windows.
Video stills showed smoke pouring from Shababs - dubbed the "home of the Birmingham Balti" - after a fryer ignited at the restaurant yesterday morning, Sunday, June 22.
One man leapt from the first-floor window to escape the blaze and was taken to hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation and burns at around 11.10am.
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Four others were treated at the scene, one of the city's last remaining original restaurants that crafted the balti dish 38 years ago.
Witnesses said members of the public threw rocks to shatter the windows before another onlooker fetched a ladder.
West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service sent three fire engines to the scene in Birmingham's 'Balti Triangle' and discovered the premises to be "significantly smoke-logged".
A spokesperson for the fire service said: "Shortly after 11.10am on Sunday 22 June, we responded to Ladypool Road, Birmingham.
"Three fire engines responded, crewed by firefighters from Ladywood, Highgate and Hay Mills stations.
"The first crew arrived at the scene within two minutes of being mobilised.
"This was a fire, believed to have started accidentally, in a two-storey commercial premises used as a restaurant. Both floors were significantly smoke-logged.
"Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used three hose reel jets to extinguish the fire.
"One person was helped to safety by members of the public from the building before we arrived.
"They are believed to have been conveyed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital after presenting symptoms of smoke inhalation.
"Four members of the public were checked by paramedics for smoke inhalation and were all discharged at the scene.
"The final fire crew left this incident at 2.25pm, with police colleagues still in attendance."
Shababs opened in 1987 and is one of Birmingham's best-known Balti Triangle restaurants.
It featured on BBC2 in April when Michael Portillo paid a visit and has been visited by YouTubers as well and celebrities such as the Hairy Bikers and Joe Lycett.
