A van parked outside the district hospital near Rani Channamma Circle in Belagavi caught fire on Thursday.
Though it was carrying four passengers and the driver, no one was injured, as they got out at the first hint of smoke from the rear side. In around five minutes, it started burning.
Fire and emergency service personnel were pressed into service. They put out the blaze in minutes.
The vehicle had ferried members of a family from Chikkodi who came to see a relative admitted in the hospital.
Parashuram Kagalkar, owner of the vehicle, told the police that he had got the vehicle checked recently and found it fit. He suspected a technical glitch in the engine must have led to the mishap. Khade Bazar police have registered a case.
