SUV catches fire on Ggn Expressway, disrupts traffic

An SUV caught fire here on Friday, resulting in traffic disruption for over an hour on the Delhi-Gurugram stretch of the busy Delhi-Jaipur-Mumbai National Highway-8, a fire officer said.

A police officer said a suspected electrical short-circuiting in the SUV’s air conditioner caused the fire around noon.

Traffic on the Delhi-Jaipur stretch from the Hero Honda Chowk to the Rajiv Chowk and from Hero Honda Chowk to Narsingpur on the Delhi-Jaipur stretch was affected.

The vehicle, a Mahindra Scorpio of Jitender Kumar, caught fire when he was driving it from Delhi to Kherki Daula toll plaza.

“When the SUV reached near the Khandsa foot-overbridge close to the Hero Honda Chowk, Jatinder noticed smoke emanating and warned drivers of other passing vehicles. He abandoned the vehicle before fire erupted,” a senior police officer said.

Jatinder is a resident of Gurugram’s Khandsa village on the expressway.  “We rushed a fire engine to douse the fire but the SUV was almost gutted by the time firemen reached the spot,” Senior Fire Officer Narender Yadav said.