Buses caught fire on Trung Luong - My Thuan highway, passengers panicked and ran away

A sleeper bus traveling on the Trung Luong - My Thuan highway suddenly caught fire, smoke rising hundreds of meters. Fortunately, more than 30 passengers narrowly escaped the accident.

Around 11 am on July 13, a passenger car controlled by the license plate 69B-000.95 was driven by driver Nguyen Thanh Niem (34 years old, from Ca Mau province) and circulated on Trung Luong - My Thuan highway from the direction of Ho Chi Minh City through the city. Tien Giang province.

At the section of Km 63, ward 3, Cai Lay town, Tien Giang province, many people discovered that the rear was emitting black smoke spreading into the car, so they informed the driver. After the car stopped, the fire suddenly broke out.

More than 30 passengers panicked, carrying their luggage, ran down the street to escape. The driver, assistant and people used the fire extinguisher available on the vehicle to put out the fire, but to no avail. The fire then erupted violently, the column of smoke tens of meters high.

Receiving the news, the Police Department of Fire Prevention and Control and the Public Security Bureau of Tien Giang Province sent many fire engines along with officers and soldiers to the scene to participate in extinguishing the fire. About 30 minutes later, firefighters were able to put out the fire.

Fortunately, the fire caused no injuries. The passenger car was destroyed by fire from the second half to the engine tunnel at the rear of the car. Because the passenger car in the accident was blocking one lane, causing traffic jams for more than 1km, it took about 1 hour for the area to return to normal.

Highway Traffic Police Patrol Team No. 7 (Room 8, Traffic Police Department, Ministry of Public Security) said that it is coordinating with professional units of Tien Giang Police to investigate the cause and estimate the damage. Damage to a passenger car fire on Trung Luong - My Thuan highway.

Trung Luong - My Thuan Expressway is 51km long, with a total investment of about 12,000 billion VND in phase 1, with 4 lanes, speed of 80 km/h, operating from the end of April 2022. In addition to reducing the load on National Highway 1, the route also shortens the time from Ho Chi Minh City to My Thuan by nearly half compared to before.

Currently, the expressway does not have an emergency stop lane, but only 11 emergency stops are arranged on the entire route. After the traffic was cleared, many accidents, damaged cars, engine stops, and tire explosions occurred on the highway.

Car fire is no longer a strange thing in Vietnam, according to which several causes often arise car fires: Gasoline leakage is the most common case. This type of fuel can self-evaporate at 7.2 degrees Celsius, so just a spark is easy to ignite. Since gasoline often leaks from open connections or aging pipes, the best way to prevent this risk is to regularly check your vehicle and maintain it properly.

Second, a faulty electrical system can cause an electrical spark to ignite leaking flammable substances into flames. The electrical system is not only encapsulated in the engine compartment, but is present throughout the car from the dashboard to the doors, under the floor mats, under the seats. If the conductor is not safe, a short circuit in any position will cause unpredictable consequences.

Besides, another cause given is due to the engine overheating. The engine overheats, causing the rubber or plastic surrounding seals to be damaged, causing the engine fluids such as fuel, oil, and coolant to leak out. These liquids can completely ignite when falling on other parts such as the exhaust pipe.

In particular, the overheated catalytic converter is the most often overlooked cause of vehicle fire and explosion. Only a few models have a rear-mounted engine compartment, while most have an exhaust system running the entire length of the vehicle. This is the hottest part of the car. In this component, the catalytic converter is the hottest part because the reaction of burning CO and unburnt fuel to the environment takes place here. Normally the catalytic converter only gets hot from 648.9 degrees Celsius to 871.1 degrees Celsius but when the engine is inefficient, the amount of unburnt fuel that has to be handled here is large, it can heat up to 1093 ,3 degrees Celsius. This not only causes the catalytic converter to fail quickly, but it can also burn the surrounding insulation and spread to other parts such as the floor, carpeting and causing a car fire.

Fire of a gasoline tanker on the Hanoi - Hai Phong highway, one person did not survive Quỳnh Quỳnh15:58:27 03/07/2024While traveling on the Hanoi - Hai Phong highway, a gasoline tanker truck crashed into a truck stopped in front, causing the fire to flare up violently. The fire broke out very strongly, rising tens of meters high, spreading to the outside of the highway guardrail.