Car engine catches fire on Johannesburg north freeway

Traffic was delayed on the M1 North freeway in Johannesburg on Tuesday when a car caught fire.

“The freeway had to be closed. The car’s engine caught fire‚” said Johannesburg metro police spokesperson Wayne Minaar.

Minaar said the fire had been put out and that no one was injured in the incident.

He could not say what type of vehicle had caught fire.

“We can’t say what type of car it is. We are waiting for a recovery vehicle to remove the car from the scene.”

A witness said: “The driver was driving towards the bridge when his car started smoking. He thought he could get to the Carr street turnoff and get help‚ but as he was turning into the far left lane to head to the offramp‚ the car broke down and he saw flames”.

On Monday‚ a test drive went wrong when a Ford Kuga burst into flames near the London Road offramp on the N3 near Alexandra.

“One of the guys from Ford had taken the car for a test drive‚” said Captain Granville Meyer. “The car suddenly set alight on its own‚” he said.