A mother and her three little children Thursday evening escaped death as a mysterious fire razed her Golf 5 model car in Owerri, the Imo state capital.
According to eyewitnesses, it was indeed a mixture of wailing and thanksgiving to God almighty, as the inferno, which occurred opposite Diamond Bank, Orji, Owerri, burnt the brand new car beyond recognition. The woman and her three children, however escaped unhurt.
Narrating the story of the incident, one of the witnesses stated that the incident occurred at about 3:55pm while the burnt car was in motion.
According to the eyewitness, the driver (the woman) of the car was returning from school run, when she noticed that the car was having difficulty in moving.
This prompted her to stop to check the cause of the problem and immediately she alighted from the vehicle and opened the bonnet, the car caught fire.
It took the help of passers-by to immediately rescue the three children who were in the back seat and in their school uniforms.
All efforts made to quench the raging fire proved abortive as the inferno raged for hours and consumed the vehicle.
This, expectedly, caused human and vehicular gridlock in and around the area as many motorists abandoned their cars on the tarred road and scampered for safety.
The owner of the vehicle was seen crying profusely, saying the vehicle was bought not less than six weeks before the incident.
