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Car catches fire in Bukit Batok, driver escapes: witness

The vehicle's driver managed to escape the burning vehicle, according to businessman Colin Teh, who lives in the area.
Singapore Civil Defence Force seen along Bukit Batok West Avenue 5, where a Kia Cerato Forte suddenly caught fire. (PHOTOS: Colin Teh)

A Kia Cerato Forte caught fire along Bukit Batok West Avenue 5 on Thursday (17 January) morning.

The vehicle’s driver managed to escape the burning vehicle, according to businessman Colin Teh, who lives in the area. The 65-year-old was taking a walk when he saw fire engines along the road and went to have a closer look.

“They had already doused the flames, but they were still spraying water on the car. The police were also there to keep the onlookers away,” said the father of three.

Teh claimed that he had spoken to the driver, who told him that he had been driving when he heard a “loud bang” from the bonnet.

“Then smoke came out and he could smell petrol. He quickly got out of the car,” recounted Teh to Yahoo News Singapore.

“The driver said he was very lucky.”

Teh said the vehicle’s driver also told him that the car was almost a decade old. There were no passengers in the car at the time of the incident.

In response to queries from Yahoo News Singapore, an SCDF spokesperson said that it responded to a fire at Bukit Batok West Ave 5 at about 8.30am. The fire was extinguished by SCDF personnel and there were no reported injuries.

According to statistics from the Singapore Civil Defence Force’s (SCDF) website, there were 184 cases of vehicle fires in 2017, a decrease of 22 per cent from the year before.

In April 2017, four people were injured when a Trans-Cab taxi caught fire and exploded along Commonwealth Avenue, close to Buona Vista MRT station.

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