Ghaziabad, Jan 17 (IANS): A Mercedes car caught fire on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway in Ghaziabad on Tuesday, but there were no injuries as its occupants safely exited the vehicle after smoke started coming out of the engine, police said.

The incident took place near the Lalkuan area here as the car was coming from Delhi.

On seeing the smoke, the alert driver stopped the car and asked everyone to get out of the vehicle. Minutes later, flames erupted from the engine. The Fire Service was informed and a team reached the spot and doused the blaze in around half an hour. The car's engine was badly damaged in the blaze.

Seeing the burning car, a crowd gathered at the spot and some even started to take videos.

Ghaziabad's Chief Fire Officer Rahul Pal said that the fire service reached the spot at right time and managed to contain and douse the blaze, and there were no casualties. After the fire was extinguished, a crane was called to shift the car to the roadside so that traffic movement was not affected.

A short-circuit is believed to be the reason, but the fire in such a reputed, luxury car has raised several questions.