A charred shell was all that remained after a vehicle belonging to the Ministry of Communities, Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) yesterday went up in flames on the Rupert Craig Highway.
The incident involving vehicle PNN 7686 occurred yesterday around 2:15pm in the vicinity of Bel Air Village.
According to reports, two persons were in the vehicle prior to the incident and were both able to disembark to safety before the Nissan Frontier pickup truck combusted.
The driver of the vehicle, Wilbert Mingo, was shaken after the incident and declined to speak with the media. Stabroek News understands that the vehicle was eastbound along the Rupert Craig Highway when the driver noticed smoke emanating from the front of the vehicle when they were at the traffic light in the vicinity of Sheriff Street but continued driving until he was able to safely pull off the highway.
According to information, the smoke built up and the driver and passenger then disembarked the vehicle which moments later was engulfed in flames leaping from the engine compartment. Ironically, the vehicle was surrounded by water that had accumulated from heavy rain.
This is the fifth reported incident of a vehicle going up in flames this year. Earlier in the year four vehicles caught fire at various locations, with a minibus going up in flames at Hague, West Coast Demerara, another minibus which was contracted by the Guyana Power and Light caught afire on Sheriff Street, a car which was engulfed by flames on the western carriageway of Avenue of the Republic and another car at the corner of Oronoque and Charlotte streets.
