A passenger car ferrying a family of four caught fire due a malfunction under the fore wheel, resulting in the bonnet going up in flames.

This accident happened near the Fatehsagar crossroads on the way to the lake from Swaroop Sagar (Intersection of PP Singhal Marg).  The incident could have been near fatal for the family who were inside the car, had a good Samaritan (name withheld on request) not spotted sparks under the bonnet near the front wheel and shouted for the car to halt and had forced the family out of the vehicle on time.

A family just driven down the Hilltop access road at Ambamata at 9:30PM today, when they spotted a car plying near the Laxmi Vilas gate opposite the PP Singhal Marg and saw that there were sparks flying below the bonnet near the front wheel.  They shouted and made the car come to a halt and at the same time, ran towards the vehicle to haul the family (with two children) out of the vehicle.  The group then intentionally ran away from the burning vehicle suspecting that the fire will eventually spread and cause a blast.

Once they were in the clear, they continuously requested the traffic policeman on duty in the area, but their requests unfortunately fell on deaf ears.  Only after much haggling and altercation, did the policeman inform his colleagues and take action to curb the vehicles from coming near the burning car, since if the fire had reached the fuel tank, there would have been a massive and fatal explosion.

Fortunately, the fire brigade, which had been informed simultaneously by passersby arrived on time to douse the fire, and all the time the policemen who had gathered on the site, tried to control the fire using buckets of water from the lake.

As per information received from the person who initiated the entire rescue, it was unfortunate, that even after multiple requests, people in cars and two wheelers refused to stop and assist.