Shababs Balti House has re-opened today and its owner is searching for an unknown hero who saved his staff member’s life

Shababs Balti House has re-opened today (June 27), after it was closed due to a devastating fire that ripped through the building on Sunday.

The restaurant owner, Zaf Hussain has appealed for the public to help find the ‘hero’ who saved a staff member’s life from the burning building.

placeholder image — Shababs Balti Restaurant

From today, customers will be able to dine on the unaffected ground floor dining area, and the staff will use the unaffected first-floor kitchen.

Even though the fire started in the ground floor kitchen it was contained by a fire door, enabling the restaurant to reopen and continue its operations.

Zaf Hussain has been overwhelmed by the local community’s support since the incident, and was keen to re-open the premises as quickly as he could. The community has shown overwhelming support, offering help and even financial assistance.

Watch the video of the blaze

“I owe it to the community who have been so supportive. The amount of social media messages I received is just phenomenal. It's just been overwhelming,” he told Birmingham World ahead of the restaurant’s re-opening.

The property damage is estimated to be about £200,000, primarily affecting the kitchen and furniture. The fire started in the kitchen around 11am on Sunday, and after the wrong fire extinguisher was used, causing the fire to worsen.

He continued: “The bulk of the cost is in the kitchen, on the ground floor kitchen. The rest is materialistic stuff, furniture and things like that. So our furniture upstairs has had to be scrapped completely.”

Fortunately, there were no fatalities in the incident, but for one staff member it was a close call.

Ramesh Pun Mager was rescued by an unknown individual, and efforts are being made to find the hero who saved his life and Zaf Hussain would like to thank the unknown individual for their heroic actions.

“I really think this person deserves a bravery award, but they're still waiting for this person to come forward. We don't know who he is,” Hussain said.

Hussain details the event which saved Ramesh Pun Mager’s life.

“He's opened the window, he's tried to get air and try to breathe even. And that's when people saw that he was struggling, and someone stuck inside.

“But then, luckily, there was a ladder in the neighbouring property, and a member of the public put the ladder up and climbed up, smashed the window and got this chap out, which was absolutely amazing.”

The family-run Balti House, situated on Ladypool road in Sparkbook has been a staple on Birmingham’s Balti Triangle for 38 years, since the restaurant opened in 1987 by Zaf Hussain’s father and elder brother.