SINGAPORE - A Mercedes-Benz caught fire along the Pan-Island Expressway (Changi Airport) on Saturday (Aug 5) morning, forcing the driver and two passengers to flee the car, reported Shin Min Daily News.

The 60-year-old driver told the Chinese newspaper that he was on the way to a Bedok hawker centre with his wife and daughter to begin stall operations for the day when the car caught fire.

"Luckily, the other drivers next to us rolled down their windows and told us that our car had caught fire. I stopped the car immediately, and the three of us quickly got out of the car," the hawker told Shin Min Daily News.

While the fire first began around the bonnet of the car, it quickly consumed the rest of the car. Photos taken by witnesses nearby show the car completely engulfed in flames.

The driver told the Chinese daily that he bought the car eight months ago and changed the car's air conditioning system the day before the incident.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said they were alerted to the incident along the expressway, near Paya Lebar exit, at about 6.20am.

A fire engine, a red rhino, and a fire bike was sent to the scene, and the fire was extinguished with one water jet, added the SCDF spokesman.

No one was injured.