ALAPPUZHA: A moving car caught fire near the petrol pump in the district. The car caught fire at 9 pm last night near the Hindustan petrol pump at Manippuzha near Podiyadi on the Thiruvalla-Kayamkulam Road. The Hyundai i10 car owned by Ramakrishnan of Ambalapuzha has been completely gutted in the fire.

Those on the opposite side informed Ramakrishnan about the smoke billowing from under the car. The fire was spreading and he soon got out of the car. Rajeev, Jopakumar and pump employees Thomas and others, who witnessed the incident conducted the initial rescue operations. The fire force reached the spot and doused the flames but the car was completely gutted in the fire. Transportation came to a standstill for nearly half an hour following the incident.