CHENNAI: A techie and his uncle had a lucky escape when their luxury sedan plying towards Adyar from Thoraipakkam went up in flames following a fire which reportedly started from the engine, here on Tuesday night.
According to eyewitnesses, fire emanated from the bonnet of the car, a Hyundai Verna of 2013 make, soon after it left the signal from Tidel Park.
Senthil Kumar, the techie, who was driving the car of his cousin with his uncle Murali towards their shop in Adyar around 8.45 pm noticed unusual noise from the engine and attempted to pull over the vehicle when the engine was on fire.
His uncle could get down immediately when the car was halted and Murali who was wearing the seatbelt took a little while to get down when the onlookers who panicked cried out to him.
The Tiruvanmiyur Fire Station vehicle rushed to the spot and doused the fire within a few minutes soon after the distress call was received.
“Had the fire not been contained on time, the fire could have reached the diesel tank leading to a blast”, noted Tambaram Fire Station Officer Surya Prakash.
Speaking to Express, Senthil Kumar said he was concentrating on pulling over the vehicle to the side which took him more time to get down. “We have filed a complaint with the City Police who had towed the vehicle to Tiruvanmiyur Police Station. A team from Hyundai visited the police station and has taken custody of the vehicle to ascertain the cause of the fire. They have told that a special team will inspect the vehicle and get back to us within four days”, he said. A case was registered and further investigations are on.
Meanwhile, another car belonging to a private school also went up in flames in front of the school premises. However, there was none present inside the vehicle. A fire tender from Tiruvanmiyur doused the fire on Tuesday night.