Kamal Ghorui
Dibrugarh: A family of four had a miraculous escape on Sunday night when their car burst into flames on NH-37 in Doomdooma Raidang area of Tinsukia district. The vehicle was completely gutted, but no injury was reported thanks to the driver’s quick reflexes.Rajani Sonowal (54), a resident of Dhola in Tinsukia, was travelling with his wife, son, and daughter to Duliajan around 7:40pm when the incident occurred. Sonowal said the car had struck a stray cattle on the highway about 10 minutes before the fire broke out — an impact believed to have triggered the mechanical failure that led to the blaze.“After the car hit the animal, I thought it was nothing serious and continued driving. But after about 10 minutes, I noticed smoke billowing from under the hood, which quickly engulfed the entire car. I stopped immediately and shouted for everyone to get out. Within moments, the vehicle was in flames,” Sonowal said.The family barely managed to leap out before the car was consumed by fire. Locals and passers-by rushed to the spot and alerted the fire brigade. Fire tenders from Doomdooma station arrived promptly and doused the blaze, but the car was reduced to a charred shell.“The family had a truly narrow escape. If they had waited even sixty seconds longer to investigate the smoke, this would have been a very different story,” said a member of the firefighting crew.The incident caused temporary disruption to traffic on the highway as recovery teams cleared the burnt remains of the vehicle.
