Taxicab bursts into flames in Mandaluyong City; no one hurt

MANILA, Philippines—Commuters and motorists got the scare of their lives when a taxi parked near a main road in Mandaluyong City suddenly burst into flames Wednesday night.

According to Fire Officer 2 Rommel de Vera, case investigator, the vehicle, driven by Arnold Calderon, had just come from Pasig City when the taxi driver started smelling something burning around 7:30 p.m. on Union St. in Barangay (village) Ilaya.

Calderon, De Vera said, had just picked up his second passenger for the day.

In an interview on television, Calderon said he did not mind the smell at first, but when it was getting difficult to breathe and drive, he parked the taxi in a vacant lot.

Calderon said he took a look underneath the hood, and saw the engine up in flames.

He immediately told his passenger to get off the vehicle, he said.

De Vera said that the flames quickly spread to the body of the taxi, and to its rear bumper, giving responding firemen little time to save the vehicle.

It took more than 30 minutes for the firemen to put out the flames.

Fire investigators said that the blaze might have been due to mechanical failure.