Qld blast cafe owners' daughter critical

The daughter of a far north Queensland couple whose cafe was destroyed by a gas bottle explosion is among seven people fighting for their lives in hospital.

An out of control 4WD utility ploughed into the gas cylinders at the Serves You Right Cafe, southwest of Cairns, during the lunchtime rush on Tuesday afternoon.

There were 20 people inside at the time.

Three of those - the owners' 37-year-old daughter, a 59-year-old woman and a 56-year-old man - have already been flown to the burns unit at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital.

The specialist team was expecting the staggered arrival of four others, director Dr Michael Rudd said.

"Severely injured burns (patients) are never really out of the woods as far as complications go until you've actually closed most of their burn wounds with their own skin," he said.

The cafe's owners are facing a heartbreaking return from a European holiday.

Another two of the victims were firefighters who were reportedly having lunch with a respite group when the blast happened.

Brisbane medical staff had spent time preparing the patients' families for a long road ahead.

"It's always really traumatic because nobody has experienced this kind of thing before," Dr Rudd said.

"It's a marathon - not a sprint. This is going to be something that will affect their lives for years."

The blast had prompted the largest aeromedical transfer of burns patients in Queensland's memory, the health department said.

The severe level of injuries also meant that the patients had to be moved one at a time.

Dr Rudd likened the tragedy to the number of patients received in Brisbane during the Bali bombings.

It had also produced significant logistical issues, Queensland Health Retrieval Services director Dr Mark Elcock said.

"This is the biggest single burns event that we've seen in Queensland in the last 20 years," he said.

The driver of the utility, a 60-year-old man, is among those critically injured.

Police are investigating whether he suffered a medical condition behind the wheel.

Fourteen of the patients, who are aged between 15 and 82, are being treated in the Cairns and Atherton Hospitals.

Their conditions are listed as either serious or stable.