A fast food restaurant owned by an Indo-Canadian was destroyed along with a few other shops when an explosion ripped through a commercial block in Vancouver in a suspected arson attack.
The suspect, who himself suffered 40 per cent burns in the incident, is under treatment at the Surrey Memorial Hospital and has been identified, but not arrested due to his medical condition, police said.
The explosion, which occurred at about 2.30 am on Wednesday (1600 IST) in the West Broadway area of Vancouver, destroyed the restaurant and a neighbouring Starbucks coffee shop.
It also damaged a fashion garment shop, a bus shelter, a medicine store across the street and a nearby hotel.
The blast could be heard more than 10 blocks away, but no injuries were reported. Charred debris from the restaurant and coffee shop were blown halfway down the block.
The Indian owner of the restaurant said she was "shaken up" and has "no idea" about who could have targeted the eatery.
"I am very shaken up...and hardly standing up. I'd just like to know what happened," Manjit Nanda told Canadian TV channels.
She said she has been planning to sell the restaurant.
A burn victim who took a cab to hospital for help is now the main suspect in the incident, police said.
Soothing public fears, they said the explosion was the result of an arson bid, not a terror attack.
"We believe this was arson, a set fire that went terribly wrong for the person who set it," a police spokesman said.
He said the restaurant was blown up when the aerosol fuel, being used by the suspect to set it alight, caught fire, leading to the explosion.
Having burnt himself badly, the suspect is said to have tried to discard his clothes and run away.
Investigators said the suspect took a taxi from the scene of the crime and later took another to hospital to be treated for burns.
"There were a couple of cabs involved and those cars are being impounded and are being processed by our forensic
investigators," Vancouver Police Officer Jana McGuinness said.
She said police haven't arrested the man because of his serious health situation.
"This person's really not in any shape right now to be going through a process like that, unfortunately," McGuinness said. "He's got burns to 40 per cent of his body, so we're talking serious life-threatening burns."
The man was captured on surveillance video recorded in the cabs and by security cameras near the scene of the blast.
A charge of arson endangering life is likely, police said.
Damages to the area are estimated to be $2 million.
