Citadel Cinema issued a statement on Tuesday morning, to ”clarify the circumstances surrounding an incident that occurred yesterday at the cafeteria attached to the cinema, following media reports which may have caused unnecessary concern and alarm among members of the public.”

The cinema said that ”a very small fire originated from a coffee grinder in the cafeteria. The incident was brought under control within a matter of seconds and did not develop into a significant fire.”

It stressed that ”the relevant emergency services, including the ambulance service and the Civil Protection Department, were contacted to ensure that the premises were fully safe and that there was no remaining risk.”

Citadel Cinema went on to say that ”as an additional precaution, the two cafeteria employees who were present at the time were taken to hospital for medical checks. They were subsequently released and are well.”

It added that ”as a precautionary measure, and due to the presence of smoke, Citadel Cinema management took the responsible decision to cancel the scheduled cinema screenings. The safety and wellbeing of our clients and staff remain our highest priority. All clients affected by the cancellation were refunded their tickets immediately.”

Citadel Cinema emphasised that ”the incident was minor, was brought under control within seconds, and there were no serious injuries. The decision to cancel the screenings was taken purely as a precautionary measure in the interests of public safety.”

”We are aware that some media reports may have created an impression of a more serious incident than what actually occurred,” the cinema said. ”We respectfully ask media organisations that have reported on the incident to clarify the circumstances and update their reports accordingly, in order to avoid unnecessary alarm or concern among the public.”

Citadel Cinema expressed its thanks to the ”emergency services, the Civil Protection Department, the ambulance personnel, our staff, and all those present for their assistance, cooperation and professionalism during the incident.”

It concluded by saying that ”the safety of our customers, employees and visitors will always remain our foremost priority.”

File photo

Permalink: Citadel Cinema issues clarification on ”very small” cafeteria fire