Kasaragod: A family travelling from Mumbai to Kannapuram in Kannur district had a narrow escape after their car, barely two months old caught fire while in motion early Friday morning.

The incident occurred around 5.30 am at Pulikkund, near Cherkala, along NH66, about 10 km south of Kasaragod town. Iqbal Muhammed Kutty (52), his wife Rubeena (42), and their children Nauf (18), Azees (17), and Umar (13) were travelling in the Maharashtra-registered Maruti Ertiga when they noticed smoke rising from the bonnet. Realising the danger, they pulled over and ran to safety. Within moments, the car was engulfed in flames.

The fire destroyed  ₹25,000 in cash, 40 grams of gold jewellery, ID cards, two mobile phones, clothing, bags, and the vehicle's original documents. "We received the alert at 5.50 am," said Kasaragod Fire and Rescue Officer Satheesh V M. "We reached the spot in under 10 minutes, but the vehicle was ablaze. We managed to contain the fire, but the car was completely gutted." The Maharashtrian family was on a road trip from Panvel to visit Rubeena's brother, Samad Rauf Bhongle, in Kannapuram.

"They began their journey three days ago, stopping at Ratnagiri, Goa, and spending last night in Kasaragod," said Bhongle. Early Friday morning, they resumed their drive to Kannapuram. "Barely 15 minutes into the journey, the car caught fire," he said. "It's sheer luck that they chose to drive in the morning. If they had been driving overnight, the kids might've been asleep in the backseat and wouldn't have noticed the smoke in time."

Iqbal Muhammed Kutty, a former NRI running a business in Navi Mumbai, said he bought the car from Simran Motors at Panvel 52 days ago. It was a CNG model, which starts on petrol and switches to CNG once the engine warms up. It also allows manual switching via a dashboard button. He said the car had no modifications. Police arrived at the scene and escorted the family to the local station. Later, Bhongle arrived from Kannapuram and took them home. The fire was doused by a team led by Senior Fire and Rescue Officer V N Venugopalan. The crew included E Praseed, Abhaysen J A, Elby T S, Jithin Krishnan K V, and home guards Ragesh M P and Shailesh M K.