A guest worker was still in hospital with burns to his face yesterday after a water heater exploded at staff quarters owned by the MEF Restaurant Group.

The blast at 92 Harbour Road, Paget, on Monday morning, blew apart an exterior wall at the dilapidated former guesthouse, which is adjacent to Valley Road.

The 47-year-old male worker and a 51-year-old female colleague were taken to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital with injuries. Bermuda Fire Service is investigating the cause of the explosion, which happened shortly before 7.30 a.m. on Monday.

The incident was reported in The Royal Gazette yesterday as having happened at a private home, based on information from the Fire Service.

But it emerged that the building is actually used to house about 40 foreign workers for MEF/Little Venice Group, which owns ten restaurants on the Island and employs Cabinet Minister Dale Butler as a consultant.

A neighbour, who would not give his name, told this newspaper that as well as housing staff, the property is used as a laundry by MEF.

"There is a large amount of workers that live and work in the place," he said. "All of the laundry is done in this establishment."

He said of the blast: "It wasn't that much of a severe explosion. But it's got two huge gas cylinders on top. If those two large cylinders had exploded, there would have been fatalities."

This newspaper visited the property yesterday and met the injured female guest worker, whose left hand was bandaged. She said the accident happened while she was doing laundry.

She and a male colleague said they could give no further comment and referred us to MEF.

Teresa M. Chatfield from the company said in a statement last night:"There was an explosion involving a water heater in a pump room at Buena Vista Monday morning. Two people received injuries. One has been treated and released from hospital, while the other is receiving treatment for burns which are not considered life threatening . "The heater had been leaking water and was dismantled by a Bermuda Gas serviceman on Christmas Eve. Two new water heaters were scheduled to have been installed Monday morning. The Bermuda Gas Serviceman received the call about the incident as he was making his way to Buena Vista to install the replacement unit. "The Bermuda Fire Service (and) Government Health and Safety officials attended the scene of the explosion which was confined to a small area, as well as Belco/BGU Health and Safety personnel. Investigations into the cause of the accident began immediately and reports are being prepared on the likely cause of the accident."The rundown-looking orange building is listed on the Land Valuation Department's website as staff accommodation unit 'Buena Vista' with an annual rental value of $153,000. The large property, much of it covered in green foliage, appears to have four or five storeys, with its lower windows covered in mesh. An exterior wall on the Valley Road side was damaged in the explosion and is now boarded up with wooden planks.The neighbour said he had been in a "war"with MEFover sewage allegedly being pumped out onto Harbour Road from the property and had complained to Environmental Health."There has been some progress," he said. "Now they tend to pump it out with a truck. Now it's a trickle. Before last month you could hardly walk past there. It was a raw open sewer. It stank."MEF employs more than 450 people from "over 30 nationalities", according to its website. The company provides dormitory style housing for foreign staff, with waiters paying between $150 and $175 a week for temporary accommodation.The website says MEF Group places the greatest importance on the safety of employees and each of its locations has a health and safety committee which meets at least three times a year.