A young Chinese kitchen worker is being treated at the specialist burns unit at Cork University Hospital after boiling oil was thrown at her on Christmas Eve.
Gardaí in Killarney are treating the attack, in a Chinese restaurant in the town, as “a very nasty incident”.
They say the attack happened on Christmas Eve between 3 and 4pm at a Chinese restaurant in a small shopping complex in the the Rock Road-Tralee Road, near one of the main entrances to Killarney.
It is understood a dispute took place in the kitchen of the restaurant and gardaí believe a man in his 50s threw boiling oil over the woman, in her 20s.
Fled the scene
The man, who is also believed to be of Chinese origin, fled the scene.
Supt Flor Murphy, who heads up the Killarney Garda Division, said gardaí were following a definite line of inquiry.
“This was a very nasty assault. Investigations are progressing. We are following a definite line of inquiry,” the senior garda said.
The woman was taken to Kerry General Hospital but was later transferred to the specialist burns unit in Cork because of the nature of her injuries.
The oil, which was boiling at the time, caught her in the back and the back of the head and she was severely burned.