The parents of three boys badly burnt when they were soaked by inflammable liquid are planning to take legal action against a man who was lighting a barbecue when the incident happened.

Angered by what they deem to be lack of action against the 39-year-old Italian resident who was preparing the BBQ on the balcony of his Birżebbuġa apartment on the evening of August 26, the parents of the children aged 5, 10 and 12, decided to come together to see whether they could institute legal action together, one of the mothers told this newspaper.

When contacted, a police spokesman said it could not be excluded that the investigations would lead to an arraignment “in due course, however, it is not prudent to comment further at this stage”.

Speaking from her five-year-old son’s bedside, Audrey Grech Coldman said that over a week had passed since the incident and, yet, the police had still not informed them whether any action would be taken against the man.

Every now and again, he bursts out crying, telling us he’s on fire

“At the moment, our sole focus is our son. He’s still in agonising pain but, at the same time, we cannot ignore the fact that we have not yet heard anything from the police. We have already been in touch with our lawyers,” Ms Grech Coldman said.

The children were waiting to participate in a dancing competition on the Birżebbuġa seafront when the incident happened. All three were taken to hospital, with the younger two suffering 12 per cent burns.

Ms Grech Coldman said the police spoke to the children the day after the incident but the families had not had any feedback since. Although the families were still seeking legal advice, they were “most likely” to band together and take the case to court together, she added.

“We’re still discussing the best way forward with the lawyers but we will most probably be fighting this together,” she said, adding the incident did not only cause actual physical harm to her son but had also scarred him psychologically.

“It’s already clear that my son will not only have the scars on his body to deal with but also emotional scars. He has now started playing again but, every now and again, he bursts out crying, telling us he’s on fire again. We cannot let that go as if nothing has happened. We want justice,” Ms Grech Coldman said.

The two younger children are still in hospital as their burns require regular medical attention. The 12-year-old was released after receiving treatment.

Ms Grech Coldman told the Times of Malta last week how she stood in shock as she watched her son engulfed in flames.

“My son was suddenly washed in the flammable solution that this person had tried to use to light his barbecue. I saw my son light up in a ball of flames before me. He was on fire from head to toe,” she said.

“What this person did was negligent and completely careless. How can you try and light a barbecue like that when you know there are children right beneath your balcony,” she said.