Five parked cars go up in flames in Marsaskala

Five parked vehicles in Marsaskala went up in flames at around midnight on Wednesday in what appears to have been a chain reaction caused by burning petrol.

The incident, which is being investigated by the police, happened in Triq il-Maħsel.

A spokesperson for the Civil Protection Department told MaltaToday that the fire appears to have started in the car that was parked at the top of the street. The cause is not yet known.

Burning fuel from the car appears to have travelled down the gentle incline causing flames to engulf another four cars that were parked behind the first vehicle, the spokesperson said.

The flames reached the bottom of the cars, which is the most vulnerable part given the possible presence of oil leaks and pipes that are likely to light up.

“When firefighters arrived on the scene, they used dry powder to immediately kill off the burning fuel and prevent further damage being caused to other vehicles before putting out the flames,” the spokesperson said.

No one was injured in the incident but car owners were rudely awoken from their sleep to a shocking scene they never expected to see.