A caravanning couple have managed to escape unharmed after their car caught fire on the South Eastern Freeway near Adelaide.
After spending two weeks in South Australia, Reg and Pat Blattman (aged 81 and 79) were on their way home to central New South Wales yesterday when things went badly wrong.
The Adelaide Advertiser newspaper reports that a fellow motorist noticed their engine was on fire and managed to flag them down just past the Stirling on-ramp.
The couple managed to get out before their car was completely destroyed although luckily the caravan they were towing sustained only minor damage. It is believed that a mechanical fault caused by a ruptured fuel line sparked the fire.
Mrs Blattman told the Advertiser the couple was ‘lucky’ to have escaped unscathed and were grateful to the man who alerted them to the danger. They are now trying to figure out how to get home.
“I feel a bit upset about it all,” Mrs Blattman said. “But I suppose we’ve just got get on with life.”
It was the second time in recent weeks that the same freeway has been closed because of a car and caravan fire. Back on June 15, a 4WD caught fire between the Heysen Tunnels and Crafers.
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