Gurugram: SUV catches fire near Omaxe Mall on Sohna Road, driver unhurt

The driver of an SUV had a narrow escape, on Monday evening, after the vehicle he was travelling in caught fire near Omaxe Mall on Sohna Road. The flames first burst through the bonnet of the white Toyota Innova and quickly engulfed the entire vehicle. Fortunately, the driver was able to open the car door and escape before the flames spread.

Fire department officials identified the driver and owner of the vehicle as Ajit Kumar, a resident of Chandu Budhera village. They said they are the investigating the exact cause of fire, but prima facie it appears to be the result of a mechanical complication in the vehicle.

According to the fire department officials, Ajit was heading towards Sohna and had just crossed Subhash Chowk when his vehicle caught fire. The Sector 29 fire brigade received a call at 4.52 pm and a fire tender was rushed to the spot. It took the fire tender 10 minutes to reach there and around 15 minutes to douse the fire, assistant divisional fire safety officer IS Kashyap said.

“Ajit stopped his vehicle as soon as he saw smoke coming out of his car. In the interim, the extent of the blaze suddenly increased and he had to evacuate the vehicle immediately. Subsequently, the fire department was alerted,” Kashyap said.

A team from Sadar Police station also arrived at the spot.

This is the third incident this year of a vehicle combusting into flames. On March 30, a 56-year-old man was charred to death after his sedan caught fire near Garhi Harsaru village after a suspected leakage in the CNG kit. In a similar incident, on March 11, a man was burnt alive when his car caught fire near Ullahawas village.

Last year, on September 1, three men, all residents of Palra village, were burnt to death after their sedan caught fire near Ullahawas village due to a suspected CNG leakage.

First Published: Aug 28, 2018 13:01 IST