High-end Tel Aviv restaurant destroyed in fire

A high-end Tel Aviv restaurant caught fire early Thursday morning, causing heavy damage to the structure.

The Mul-Yam restaurant went up in flames at 2 a.m. and the blaze was under control by 5 a.m. A preliminary investigation indicated that a kitchen appliance short-circuited, sparking the fire.

No one was injured in the fire, which took eight firefighting squads to extinguish.

The seafood joint is regularly listed as one of the top restaurants in the country and has also won international acclaim.

“It is a very sad day for the Mul-Yam family,” Ben Maharovsky, one of the owners of the gourmet establishment, told the Ynet news website. “Everything will be clarified at the end of the investigation of the fire, but as far as we know it was a short circuit that destroyed the 20-year-old restaurant.”

Two years ago, a nearby restaurant under the same ownership went up in flames. The Pier 23 restaurant, recently reopened, had caught fire under similar circumstances.