Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi

Udupi, Feb 10: A car travelling from Mangaluru to Shirva suddenly caught fire in the middle of the road near the Nyarm Sri Jarandaya Daivasthana here around midnight on Monday.

Thanks to the presence of mind shown by the driver, all five passengers in the car narrowly escaped without injury.

Late on Monday night, as the car was heading towards Shirva from Mangaluru and reached the Nyarm area, smoke began to emanate from the engine compartment. Alerted by this, the driver immediately pulled the vehicle to the side of the road and asked the four family members travelling with him to get down at once. Moments after everyone alighted, flames engulfed the entire car, which was completely gutted within a short span of time.

On noticing the fire, local residents rushed to the spot. They attempted to douse the flames by spraying water through pipes from nearby houses. However, the fire had already spread rapidly, resulting in the car being reduced to ashes.