Two Sydney CBD cafe workers caught in a gas explosion have been transferred to a burns unit following injuries to their faces and hands.
A 23-year-old Chilean sandwich hand named Camille and a 24-year-old male chef from Nepal were rushed to St Vincent's hospital shortly after 11am on Monday.
They have since been moved to Concord Hospital after the cafe's kitchen gas grill exploded - causing a flash fire which caught both of them in the face.
The other worker in the kitchen, 25-year-old Canadian Alissa, escaped unscathed.
"I heard a really loud bang, and dived down but my hair got singed. I... thought a canister had fallen onto the stove," she said.
Upon reviewing the cafe's CCTV footage of the incident, Alissa said she couldn't believe she had escaped injury.
"I didn't realise the fire had come out that far. The fireball travelled the length of both me and Camille. I must have had my face turned away."
Two customers were seated outside the cafe and around ten staff were on the premises at the time of the explosion.
The health food cafe, `The Gardens', had only been open for three weeks in the busy George St location.
Owner George Michaels told AAP that he didn't think "there's that much damage."
"Something just blew. The kitchen looks fine. I don't know where this fire came from," he said.
"It couldn't have been a canister. I've seen canisters blow and they don't blow like that.
"I just feel bad... (that) they got their faces burnt."
Fire and Rescue NSW set up an exclusion zone following the initial blast.
The cause of the explosion is under investigation by Work Cover NSW.
Both injured workers are in a stable condition.
Share
