A Volvo SUV travelling from Pune to Mumbai went up in flames due to overheating
Car catches fire on Eastern Freeway; traffic badly hit
A fire broke out in a car on Eastern Freeway on Tuesday afternoon, leading to an hourlong traffic jam. The police said that a Volvo SUV travelling from Pune to Mumbai exploded due to technical problems and overheating, when it reached Sewri near the Freeway. The burnt car was sent to Sewri police station for examination by RTO officials to ascertain the cause.
A Sewri police official said that the car was at regular speed, but as per the driver it started slowing down and the accelerator stopped functioning. As soon as he noticed the smoke, he stepped out after turning it off. Seconds later, the vehicle caught fire on its own.
Two fire brigade vehicles were near the spot, but the blaze had subsided on its own by the time they reached. “The car looked like a smoked pit; even its colour was not visible. It was completely gutted,” an official from the Wadala police station said, adding that vehicular movement was stopped, as there were high chances of other cars catching fire.
The fire brigade and traffic police officials had to wait at least 30 to 35 minutes for the car to cool down before they towed it from a long queue of traffic piled up on both sides of the Freeway.
“The Freeway was jammed, making it impossible for our towing vehicle to go through and evacuate the accident spot. Some traffic was diverted at the end, but a large number of cars had already entered the Freeway. Hence, it took us over an hour to tow the vehicle, and another hour to keep the traffic flowing,” the official added.
“Even though we have ACs in cars, how much fuel did we waste due to this? The traffic police could have diverted the traffic instead of leaving us hanging,” said a motorist. Another one said, “Some motorists were throwing up after inhaling the black, cloudy smoke! It was a horrible scene!”