Running car catches fire, driver escapes unhurt

Abu Dhabi: A running car caught fire on Muroor Street in the capital on Friday morning. Although the front portion of the car was totally burned, the driver escaped unhurt, thanks to his presence of mind.

"While driving, I noticed smoke appearing from the bonnet and I immediately diverted the car to a service road on the right hand side," the young British national who was alone in the car told Gulf News just after the incident at around 11am.

He said he stopped the car on the service road and came out of the car immediately.

"Within a minute, the front portion of the car started burning with a loud noise," said the man, who did not want to be named. He said the incident occurred while he was going for shopping.

"I am working in financial sector and living alone in Abu Dhabi," said the man who was quietly watching the efforts of the rescue officials who were extinguishing the fire.

The Quick Intervention Unit of the Abu Dhabi Police reached the spot within 10 minutes and extinguished the fire. "We don't know the reason behind the fire yet. We have handed over the burned car to Abu Dhabi Police which will further investigate the matter," an official from the unit told Gulf News. The car was quickly removed from the scene.

A large number of onlookers gathered around the scene. "It was horrific; we saw the smoke on the front side of the car ,and a man was coming out," an eyewitness said.

"We had a sigh of relief when the man said nobody else was inside the car," the eyewitness said.