A group of students were awoken following a ‘loud bang’ but ‘didn’t think anything of it because it’s Manchester’ until they saw a crashed car ‘completely engulfed in flames’
A group of horrified students woke up to find the burning wreckage of a car in their garden in the early hours of the morning.
The students, who live on Anson Road in Manchester, told the MEN that they heard a ‘loud bang’ at around 1am. When they went outside to investigate, they found the burning car, which looked like it had smashed into a lamppost. Eyewitnesses reported that the police were ‘swarming the area’ in marked and unmarked police cars. There were also unconfirmed reports that the crashed vehicle had been in a chase with Greater Manchester Police.
A fire crew from Gorton quickly arrived on the scene and set to work getting the blaze under control. The fire was reportedly extinguished, and the scene made safe, within around 10 minutes. Student Charles McGreavy, 19, was among those woken by the crash, and told the MEN: “It was about 1am and I got a knock on my door from my housemate saying that there’s a car on fire. It had crashed into a lamp post right outside the house. We thought we would have to evacuate the house. It was a huge fire. There were police outside, there was an undercover police car. The fire just kept getting bigger.
“Once they finally had it out then they knocked on and said it was a high speed chase and that he had crashed into the telephone pole. They were chasing him.” He added: “It was horrendous because it was so close, it’s literally right outside the house. The wall and the lamp post being there was lucky really.”
Student Lana Sloan-Davies, 20, also witnessed the crash, telling the M.E.N.: “It was like one in the morning and I woke up to a really really loud bang. I didn’t really think anything of it because it’s Manchester. I went outside and there was this car just metres high in flames, just completely engulfed in flames. There was a girl that came out to see, she heard the same thing.
“A fire engine turned up and started to hose it out. No ambulance turned up. The whole thing was just really strange. I ended up going back inside after like half an hour when they got the car to stop smoking. There were lots of police cars and some unmarked police cars. I didn’t think anything of it at first, until I went out and saw people out there.” She added: “I heard from multiple people that it sounded like a police chase that ended in a car crash and an eruption of flames.”
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) told the MEN: “At around 2.35am today (Sunday 10 November), one fire engine from Gorton fire station was called to a fire involving a car, a cycle lamp post and a traffic lamp post.
“Crews wearing breathing apparatus used one hose reel to extinguish the fire and make the scene safe. Crews were in attendance for roughly 10 minutes.” It is believed that Greater Manchester Police are taking the lead on this incident. GMP and North West Ambulance Service have been contacted for comment.
