Motorists flee their vehicles in panic as car catches fire in the Dartford tunnel
Drivers and passengers make desperate bid to flee tunnel engulfed in flames as emergency services rush to put fire out
MOTORISTS fled their cars in a mad rush after a vehicle burst into flames in the Dartford Tunnel on Saturday afternoon.
Emergency services were called to the scene just before 1pm.
Footage of the incident, which blocked the M25 anti-clockwise, quickly circulated online, showing people abandoning their vehicles in a desperate bid to flee the blaze.
Emily Dyster, from Essex, and partner Jordan Riley were among the terrified motorists who found themselves stranded in the tunnel when the vehicle burst into flames.
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She described the frenzy: "The traffic started slowing down as we came into the tunnel.
"No one knew what was going on but there was smoke coming down the tunnel.
"I got out to see what was going on. Everyone was screaming saying 'get out, there's a fire.'
"There were kids crying and no one knew what was going on."
While Emily and her partner managed to reverse their cars out of the tunnel, she said there was little help or information forthcoming from tunnel staff or emergency crews.
She believes the blaze was eventually extinguished by the tunnel’s automatic sprinklers.
But she added: "It was scary because we didn't know if the car was going to explode when it was on fire."
Meanwhile, motorist Amy Spencer described the scene in a tweet: "Scariest moment ever, the car in front of me was on fire in the Dartford Tunnel, we all had to evacuate, Thought I was going to die."
Crews from both Kent and Essex attended the fire, with support from Kent Police.
Cops say they received a report about the fire at 12.53pm.
There are no reports of injury as of yet, and both tunnels have since been reopened, though delays continued long into the afternoon.
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