A heavily pregnant woman and her partner narrowly escaped a raging inferno that engulfed their car and blocked a major tunnel in Sydney.
Gretta and Sebastian Lough were driving through the Eastern Distributor near the Randwick/Bondi exit around lunchtime on Thursday when smoke began pouring from the engine of their Hyundai.
The car caught fire, causing the emergency sprinklers in the tunnel to come on and traffic to an abrupt halt.
“There was smoke coming and cars beeping at us, we had our hazards on,” Gretta told Nine News.
“I was shocked at first, but I knew I had to calm down.”
Her partner said they came to a stop and abandoned the car.
“I thought, oops, the car is on fire, I want to get my pregnant wife somewhere safe, so we both got out of the car and ran to the fire truck,” he told Seven News.
NSW Fire and Rescue technician Belinda Jackson pulled the couple to safety.
“She was quite upset seeing her car on fire and I wanted to make sure she was okay,” Ms Jackson said.
Gretta (pictured while receiving treatment after the incident) and Sebastian Lough were driving through the Eastern Distributor near the Randwick/Bondi exit around lunchtime on Thursday when smoke began pouring from the engine of their Hyundai
The couple’s Hyundai was burned (photo)
The incident led to the closure of the Eastern Distributor in both directions, bringing traffic to a standstill.
Some drivers and their passengers got out of their vehicles and left the tunnel on foot.
The southbound lanes of the Sydney Harbor Tunnel were also closed.
There were massive traffic jams stretching 4.5 miles all the way to Roseberry for northbound traffic.
Both tunnels have now reopened, but motorists are warned to expect delays.
The car fire caused traffic chaos on Sydney’s Eastern Distributor as emergency services stopped traffic in both directions (photo, smoke billowing from the tunnel)