Woman jumps out of car seconds before faulty Uber catches fire

11:58 AM | 15 Jan, 2019

CHENNAI - A woman in south Indian state of Tamil Nadu was left traumatized when she faced an unexpected incident that could take her life if she had not acted swiftly.

Pallavi Singh, a costume designer and wardrobe stylist from Chennai, shared her horror on social media while narrating what led to her decision to jump out of the Uber that caught fire seconds after.

Pallavi posted a video of the vehicle that was engulfed by flames that she could have been a victim of as well.

View this post on Instagram

@uber_india A word of caution to all Uber users out there, who believe their safety is being taken care of with utmost sincerity. Last night, on my trip back home, I sensed a burning smell inside the car. At first my limited imagination made me think that it’s coming from the outside. Once the car drove up the TTK road fly over, I saw smoke coming out from the foot area and possibly the AC ducts. To my shock, the driver had not spotted it nor taken any effort to warn me about it. I warned him and asked him what was going on. Luckily, people from other cars around told us to pull over, as they had seen sparks from under. We stopped and exited the car, only to see it burn down to ashes, and along with it my bag containing my IDs, Dailies and Wallet. I came to know that only the metal skeleton of the seats remained. It was undoubtedly the scariest moment of my life. I cannot get that image out of my head. And it’s been over 12 hours since this happened and I wonder if Uber even knows this happened or have absolutely nothing to say to me. This is heights of carelessness, ignorance and utter lack of interest in their customers. Thanks Uber. FYI, I saved your driver’s life last night. @uber_india

A post shared by Pallavi Singh (@pallavi_85) on Jan 12, 2019 at 11:45pm PST

According to Pallavi, she could sense a burning smell in the car. She could see smoke coming out 0f the foot area and possibly the AC ducts. To her shock, the Uber driver did not seem to think twice about what was happening.

When passersby pointed out sparks from beneath the car, the driver-passenger duo jumped out of the car only to see the car burn up immediately.

Pallavi's ID cards, wallet, bag and essentials all burned up and perished in the horrifying fire.

Later on social media, she notified people how it has been 12 hours since the incident took place and Uber hasn’t responded yet.

Archana Kalpathi, a businesswoman, who was present behind the line of cars on the same road during the incident, reached out to her on Twitter.

Uber eventually did respond with this!

“Uber is grateful that both the rider and driver partner are safe after this incident. We have also reached out to them both and applaud the rider for quickly bringing this issue to our attention. There’s nothing more critical than the safety of our riders and driver partners and we standby to assist the law enforcement with any information they might require.”