[imagesource:twitter]
A very unfortunate scene unfolded at the 2023 Toyota 1000 Desert Race in the small mining town of Jwaneng, southern Botswana on Sunday, June 25, as around 49 cars burned to the ground.
Eyewitnesses at the prominent off-road motorsport event mentioned that the fire began when a glowing ember from a nearby food vendor’s braai stand fell into the dry grass, swiftly turning the area into an inferno.
SA Trucker notes that approximately 49 vehicles waiting in the parking lot, including popular models such as Ford Ranger, Golfs, Altezza, Quantum, Combi, and GD6, were ravaged by the flames.
The owners of these burning cars saw the flames and rushed to the scene, but many were too late and had to watch their vehicles burn to ashes.
TopAuto reported that no deaths or injuries have been reported thus far as the incident took place while most owners were enjoying the action-packed racing.
Emergency services were called shortly after the fire broke out but firefighters struggled to contain the flames due to the sheer number of vehicles that were set alight and the wintery conditions that are conducive to veld fires.
Videos shared on social media show the trail of utter devastation and destruction at what was supposed to be an exciting motorsports event:
Too bad ey pic.twitter.com/cT2VBOAgPH
— Halloween Sekolo (@HSekoloween) June 26, 2023
Final Day of the 2023 Toyota Desert Race ends in Distress as Fire Engulfs 49 Carshttps://t.co/VT8pIthsEP pic.twitter.com/HvgMFq1nQc
— SA Trucker (@rsa_trucker) June 26, 2023
Miraculously, only two vehicles, a Toyota GD6 and a Wish, survived the destructive blaze.
In the aftermath of the incident, authorities immediately launched an investigation to determine the exact cause of the fire:
It must be noted that the Botswana police said it is still “investigating the cause of the fire” and no official statements have been released at the time of writing. The authorities are currently assessing eyewitness accounts and collecting more evidence to get to the bottom of the unfortunate incident.
Eish, shame. Insurance companies better be revved up – that’s if everyone has insurance.
