On Monday, Chevrolet Enjoy, a multi purpose vehicle launched in 2010, caught fire under the Agara flyover on Outer Ring Road. The HSR cops say that the air conditioned duct started to smell, alerting the six passengers who immediately got out of the vehicle and escaped an excruciating death.
Driven by Shivanna, a businessman from Dommasandra, the incident occurred around 5pm on June 24, 2019. The fire force officials extinguished the fire within 20 minutes after receiving the complaint. Traffic was naturally disrupted as a large crowd gathered to witness the rare incident.
“The vehicle was old and wasn’t maintained well,” said one senior HSR cop. “The AC duct started to smell, but they kept driving.” However, the driver stopped the car at the Agara bus stop when he noticed flames coming out of the bonnet. The vehicle wasn’t that old either as it was registered with the Electronic City RTO in 2016. Only a proper probe can reveal the details.
However, the cautionary note is that whenever you are driving, if you notice a burning smell, it’s best to get out of the car and save yourself, like the six passengers did in this case. Interestingly, cases like these are never recorded by the police as a First Information Report, be it traffic or crime, as cars burning up due to some fault, are not considered a criminal offence. “Only the insurance companies will probe the case. We just file an FAR (Fire accident report),” said one HSR cop.
