A vehicle caught fire in the middle of Sheikh Zayed Road near Emirates Metro Station and Crowne Plaza Hotel on Wednesday afternoon.

Heavy traffic was reported on the lane heading towards Abu Dhabi from Dubai World Trade Centre roundabout and caused a nearly 2km traffic jam.

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Dubai Civil Defence rushed to the incident to contain the fire and videos from the location show several firefighters battling the blaze.

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“When I went into my office at 4.05pm, there was no issue,” said Uma, who works in a building on Sheikh Zayed Road. “At 4.20pm, my friend called and asked if I could see why there was so much smoke. When I looked out, I could see the vehicle on fire. There were yellow flames shooting out of it and the whole area was engulfed in thick black smoke. I could see two fire trucks as well as an ambulance and police cars surrounding it. There were at least six firefighters on the spot. The police had blocked off three lanes and were letting cars use only two lanes to pass by.”

According to other eyewitnesses, the fire was contained and completely extinguished within minutes. Sheikh Zayed Road towards Abu Dhabi remained partially blocked off as police cleared off the accident.

Source Khaleej Times