SINGAPORE - A car caught fire in a tunnel on the Central Expressway on Saturday (Aug 12) evening, leading to the closure of the Havelock Road exit.

Dark smoke could be seen billowing out of the Chin Swee tunnel at about 6pm.

The Land Transport Authority, in a tweet on its Twitter account at about 6pm, said the exit was closed.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) told The Straits Times that it received a call requesting help at the CTE tunnel heading towards Ayer Rajah Expressway, before the Havelock exit, at around the same time.

SCDF dispatched a fire engine, two fire bikes, three Red Rhinos, an ambulance and two support vehicles to the scene.

"The fire, which involved an entire car, was extinguished by SCDF using one water jet," said the SCDF spokesman. "There were no reports of injury," he added.

Photos seen by The Straits Times show black smoke coming out of the tunnel, and obscuring the road.

The smoke appeared to have become less dense in a video posted by Facebook user Ronald Sng on Facebook page Singapore Taxi Driver at 6.18pm.

The police, in a Facebook post at 6.43pm, said the car caught fire after it was involved in an accident.

The LTA said in an update at 7.21pm that the Havelock Road exit was still closed. However, the CTE tunnel was still open to traffic, the police said.

Even so, the police advised motorists to use alternative routes, if possible.

The cause of the fire is being investigated.

Additional reporting by Ariffin Jamar