In a shocking incident that has raised serious doubts regarding the level of safety offered by car manufacturers, Pradeep Arora, a resident of Dilshad Garden perished within seconds due a sudden fire that broke out in his Maruti Suzuki Alto. As per fire brigade officials, who reached the spot of the incident, the car caught fire when Arora was driving through Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar locality.
Arora was on his way to visit one of his friends when the dismal incident took place. According to prima facie, the car caught fire probably due to some kind of a short circuit that came in contact with the CNG system, conveyed a fire brigade official. However, the exact cause of the fire, that killed Arora, is yet to be ascertained. The worst part of the catastrophe was that everything happened in such a meagre time that the fire made work short for the victim, lending no chance to save himself.
Fire Brigade officials rushed to the spot immediately, but by the time they arrived, it was too late as Pradeep Arora had already succumb to his injuries. The body has been sent to Babu Jagjeevan Ram Memorial Hospital in order to conduct a post-mortem.
The victim, who used to work at a telecom company, struggled to get out of the car but the central locking system failed and as a consequence, he was trapped inside the burning car. A senior police official said, "He was on his way to meet a friend. Suddenly, a thick cloud of smoke started coming out of the bonnet of the car and before he could get out, fire had engulfed the whole vehicle. Passersby rushed to his rescue but their efforts went in vain."
As soon as Pradeep's brother got to know about the horrifying incident, he arrived at the hospital and was quoted as saying, "He did not deserve such a gruesome death. We were a happy family. Now, everything is over." Another relative of the deceased said, "We did not inform his wife or mother as they won't be able to bear the shock. He was a young man and it's unfortunate that he had to die this way. We have been shocked by the incident."
According to experts, the car met with the accident due to a fuel leak in the engine bay. They also stated that the possibility of a crack near the battery or engine of the car could not be ruled out.
