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Millfield café shuts after petrol bomb attack
A RESTAURANT owner has been driven out of business by a terrifying petrol-bomb attack – the second in just six months.
A RESTAURANT owner has been driven out of business by a terrifying petrol-bomb attack – the second in just six months.Manuel Cascalheira (43) and his wife, Natasja (42), were lucky to escape with their lives – fighting the flames with an extinguisher – and later needed treatment for smoke inhalation by paramedics.
The couple were alone inside Casa Do Alentejo, in Cromwell Road, Millfield, Peterborough, just before midnight on Sunday, 28 June, when three large vodka bottles, filled with petrol, were thrown through the front door.
They smashed on the floor, filling the popular Portuguese restaurant with flames, and Mr Cascalheira bravely grabbed a fire extinguisher, while Mrs Cascalheira hid behind the bar.
And even when the flames had been extinguished, the couple, who live in Dogsthorpe, Peterborough, said they were too frightened to leave the building in case the attackers were waiting outside.
Today, as the clear-up operation began, Mr Cascalheira said he would not be opening the caf again, as he feared for his safety.
He said: "We had a firebomb thrown on the roof in January, which fortunately did not cause any damage.
"We could not believe it had happened again on Sunday.
"It was very scary. All the shutters on the windows were down, as we had just closed for the night, so the only way out was through the flames and the front door.
"I just grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall, and told Natasja to get behind the bar and wait for the police.
"I have been here for a year, and it is a very popular place for the Portuguese community to come and relax and have a meal.
"But I can't carry on like this. Who know's what might happen to us next?
"Natasja is too scared to come back here. I don't know what we will do next, but we just can't come back."
Masood Hanif (18), who lives in Cromwell Road, said: "I was woken up at about midnight by a bit of a disturbance. When I looked out of the window, I could see lots of fire engines and police cars. I couldn't see what was going on, but it looked very serious."
Station manager Ady Slack, from Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, said the couple had had a lucky escape.
"The adults who were inside the restaurant are extremely fortunate to have been able to get out without serious injury or even death," he said.
"Luckily, the bottles hit the floor and so the fire was not able to spread immediately.
"If one of the bottles had hit the soft furnishings, the fire would have been much more intense and it is unlikely that they would have been able to battle their way out with a fire extinguisher."
A police spokesman said forensic officers had been to the scene of the incident to hunt for clues, and house-to-house enquires were taking place in the area.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call police on 0345 456 4564, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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