Rajouri, May 18: A car was completely gutted in a mysterious fire incident on the Nowshera–Qila Darhal road in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, with fire in the vehicle’s battery suspected to be the cause of the blaze.
Officials said that the vehicle bearing registration number JK02BD-3405 was being driven by its owner, Jaswinder Singh, a resident of Jabba Nowshera.
The car was on its way from Qila Darhal to Nowshera when flames suddenly started erupting from the battery area near Gharat.
Soon after, the battery reportedly exploded, causing the entire vehicle to be engulfed in flames within minutes and the vehicle was completely destroyed in the incident and reduced to ashes.
Fortunately, the driver escaped unhurt and no loss of life was reported in the incident.
However, due to the intense flames, a nearby forest area also caught fire, causing damage to nearly one hectare of land, officials said.
A Quick Reaction Team (QRT) of the Forest Department immediately rushed to the spot and launched firefighting operations, successfully bringing the blaze under control and preventing further spread of the fire.
