Mum and kids escape just before car catches fire

MALACCA: A 39-year-old woman and her three children cheated death when a multipurpose vehicle (MPV) she was driving suddenly burst into flames here.

Norwahidah Saad was heading to the city to pick up her two other daughters from school when she heard a blast from her car’s engine compartment.

“I immediately wanted to pull over and check what happened, but the brake didn’t work.

“So I slowed down, pulled the handbrake and grabbed my children out of the car immediately before it caught fire,” she said when met at the scene near Cheng along the Alor Gajah-Melaka Tengah-Jasin Highway here yesterday.

Norwahidah said she noticed smoke billowing from the undercarriage of the vehicle less than a min­ute after she ran out to safety and the car was in flame soon after.

“Luckily my children and I managed to get out in time.

“I could not imagine what could have happened if we didn’t,” said the visibly shaken Norwahidah.

She said the MPV was bought seven years ago and was fitted with a natural gas vehicle (NGV) kit.

A spokesman from the Fire and Rescue Department said they received a report about the vehicle on fire at about 1.15pm and promptly sent a team of six firemen to the scene.

He said no one was hurt in the fire, adding that the vehicle was 100% burnt in less than five minutes be­fo­re any effort could be carried out to extinguish the fire.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated.