A 42-year-old driver escaped unhurt after the scrap vehicle he was towing caught fire when its tyres came in contact with the metal frame of the vehicle on the Chennai-Bengaluru National Highway (NH-48) at Shenbakkam, within Vellore Corporation limits, on Friday.

Police said the driver, K. Murugan, a resident of Vellore, managed to disconnect his vehicle from the scrap SUV before it caught fire. The SUV was being towed to a godown on the outskirts of Vellore town to be dismantled for scrap.

Police said smoke was coming from the rear tyres of the SUV. However, the driver did not notice it and continued towing the vehicle, following which the fire spread to the SUV.

Motorists who noticed the smoke alerted the driver. He immediately steered his vehicle towards the side of the road and stopped before disconnecting it from the scrap SUV.

Local residents alerted the Vellore town Fire and Rescue Services. A six-member team led by R. Gopala Krishnan, Station Fire Officer-in-Charge, Vellore town, battled the blaze for nearly an hour before bringing it under control.

The scrap vehicle was completely gutted. As there were not many vehicles on the road when the incident occurred around 8.30 a.m., traffic was not affected.

The Vellore North police registered a case and an investigation is under way.