Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor: Alex Cope, Agency: Asia Wire Report
Video Credit: AsiaWire
This is the moment a quick-witted van driver leaps out the window of his vehicle when it suddenly bursts into flames at a Shell petrol station.
The dramatic video from the Yubei District in Chongqing, which is a municipality in south-western China, shows silver van owner Mr Gong diving out of the window onto the ground in just seconds.
His vehicle can be seen burning from the chassis, with the blaze quickly spreading into the van on the morning of 20th August.
As Mr Gong rubs his face on the ground and rolls around in a bid to snuff out any flames, Shell staff member Lan Zhengqun and her colleagues dash over to put out the fire using half a dozen extinguishers.
Filling station manager Sun Jianbiao said: “The silver van caught fire as the driver started the engine and prepared to leave.
“One of our attendants discovered the fire and turned off the petrol pump before warning other customers of the blaze.
“Then she picked up a fire extinguisher and started putting out the flames.”
Sun said his staff, who were all well trained for similar emergencies, spent about 40 seconds putting out the fire.
He added: “The fire service and other officials investigated and found the van petrol tank had a leak.
“It was an old vehicle, and some of its cabling was exposed, so that sparked a fire when the driver started the engine.”
According to the fire service, Mr Gong later admitted he had noticed his van was leaking petrol earlier in the day but chose not to address it.
No one else was injured during the incident, which is still being investigated.
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