MUNNAR: A bike carrying a couple caught fire in Munnar Town. The bike carrying Saneeba of Kollam and his wife caught fire last afternoon. A major accident was averted after the traffic police and locals doused the flames.

Seeing the fire, a street vendor alerted the motorist and made him stop the vehicle. The couple immediately got down and the fire spread near the petrol tank of the bike. The traders and local people who were there brought the water stored in the shops and extinguished the fire. The timely intervention of the locals averted a major tragedy. It is not clear how the fire spread. It is concluded that the fire may have spread as there was full tank petrol and it was overflowing.

A similar incident happened in Kochi earlier. Leon Christy of Tripunithura, who was riding a bike, stopped the vehicle and ran avoiding any casualties. The bullet was completely burnt. Two units of the fire force arrived from Ernakulam Club Road and extinguished the fire. Leon was coming from Tripunithura to Ernakulam.