The burning car.
KUCHING: A man’s planned trip to visit an old friend in Telaga Air came to an abrupt halt after his car burst into flames at a roundabout in Matang here yesterday.
The 53-year-old man was travelling with his wife and teenage daughter in the car when the incident occurred around 7.45am.
According to the man, he was slowing down his vehicle while approaching the roundabout when the dashboard lights came on and began blinking repeatedly.
Sensing a problem, he stepped on the brake only to discover it was not functioning. He narrowly missed hitting a lorry ahead and gradually brought the car to a halt.
At that juncture, a burnt smell started to waft into the car, which prompted his wife to ask everyone to abandon the vehicle.
She had previously read of similar incidents where cars caught fire within seconds of such a smell being detected.
No sooner had the couple and their daughter exited when flames emerged and engulfed the entire vehicle rapidly.
Firemen and Civil Defence Department personnel were summoned to the scene to extinguish the fire, suspected to have started due to faulty wiring, and brought the situation under control.