Five people have been injured in an explosion and fire in a restaurant in Darwin last night.
Emergency services were notified of the incident at Little Miss Korea, in Austin Lane, just after 8pm last night.
The popular Austin Lane outdoor markets had been underway in the laneway outside.
Northern Territory Police Northern Watch Commander Joshua Cunningham said it appeared a Korean barbecue hotplate or "cooker" had been the source of the explosion.
"It looks like one of the cookers, that are a mixture of coals and gas, subsequently ignited and caused injuries to about five occupants sitting around the table," he told ABC Radio Darwin this morning.
Staff and patrons used a fire extinguisher to put out the blaze, which was confined to the single table, before emergency services arrived, and the building was evacuated.
The five male customers sustained burns and were transported to Royal Darwin Hospital for treatment.
Emergency services have described their injuries as non-life threatening.
However, one man has sustained burns to up to 40 per cent of his body.
All five men were still in hospital this morning, with four in a serious but stable condition and one in a stable condition, according to NT Health.
Acting NT Deputy Chief Fire Officer Joshua Fischer said it appeared the cooker had ignited when it had come into contact with alcohol.
"We've got alcohol that's quite cold, that's been spilt or poured onto the charcoal cooker, that's mixed with fats from the meat that'd been cooking, which has then caused a violent eruption to occur," he said.
In a post on its business Facebook page this morning, Little Miss Korea said its staff were "disappointed in" the incident.
"Our first thoughts are for a swift recovery for those people hurt," the post read.
"We are also thinking of our loyal customers that were there last night and our amazing staff."
The business said its staff would cooperate fully with any investigations, and would remain closed today as the damage was assessed.
The incident sparked a large-scale response from emergency services, with all police, firefighters and paramedics available at the time called to the scene.
"The nature of the [report] at the start was that it was quite unknown, so as a result we put everything we could," Watch Commander Cunningham said.
Authorities say there has only been minor damage to the restaurant's premises.
St John Ambulance NT operations manager Craig Garraway said the five people who had been injured had all received "numerous burns".
"[They're] not life threatening burns, but did require treatment and transport to the Royal Darwin Hospital, where they were all recovering overnight," he said.
"Thankfully they'll all make a full recovery out of this."
