MBA student’s 5 day old Mercedes Benz CLA200 catches fire in Delhi

A brand-new Mercedes Benz CLA200 luxury sedan caught fire in Delhi. The car belonged to 20 year old Gagan Kalra, who’s an MBA student at the Amity University in Noida. Gagan was driving back from college yesterday evening at about 4:40 PM, when the car caught fire somewhere near the Maharani Bagh area of the Delhi Noida Direct (DND) expressway. The incident led to a 4 km long traffic jam on the DND, delaying traffic for an hour.
After noticing smoke emanating from the under the hood, Gagan immediately stopped the car and managed to get out in time. Thankfully. Gagan escaped unhurt even as the car was totally gutted before firefighters could reach the spot. It remains to be seen if the Mercedes CLA200 was fitted with any after market accessories, which can cause such fires. Gagan’s father Bobby Kalra, who had gifted him the car just 5 days ago, expressed shock at the incident.
Here’s what Mr. Bobby Kalra had to say about the incident,
Any car can catch fire, from the humble Tata Nano to a super high-end Rolls Royce. One of the biggest reasons for a car catching fire is an electrical short circuit. Such short circuits generally happen when a car is fitted with after market accessories, with the fitment done in shoddy manner.
Splicing the stock wiring of the wire and not insulating it properly is one of the biggest reason for electrical short circuits in cars. Also, some after market accessories may put additional load on the car’s electrical system, causing fuses to blow and in the worst case, wiring to melt or catch fire.
Other reasons for car fires include poor maintenance, fitment of illegal and poor quality LPG/CNG kits, storing combustible materials in the car or the engine bay, and sometimes even smoking in the car.
Via IndiaToday