Kochi: A moving car on Saturday caught fire while running over the Old Mattancherry bridge, however, iron barricades erected on both sides of the bridge prevented fire tender units from reaching the spot. The incident happened at 2.45 pm when the car driven by one Antony, a native of Nazreth near Fort Kochi, caught fire reportedly due to a short-circuit problem. He stopped the car and quickly got out.
“The car had by then reached the middle of the narrow bridge. Three fire tender units quickly reached the spot, however, they could not be brought over the bridge due to iron barricades erected at both ends,” an officer said. The authorities have restricted entry of heavy vehicles onto the bridge by erecting the iron barricades. Finally mini –extinguishers were brought and doused the flames. By then the car was almost completely gutted. Traffic along the route was restricted for almost two hours and the entire exercise finally got over by 4.20 pm.
