Ten elderly women have escaped a burning limousine on Sunday, on their way to celebrate a friend's 96th birthday.
The Associated Press reported that the women live in the Northern California enclave of Walnut Creek and their limo caught fire while at around 11:35 a.m. The 2009 Lincoln Town Car caught on fire and officials were quickly called to the scene on Sunday.
The women, whom many were over the age of 90, were on their way to Sonoma to celebrate a friend's birthday.
Mary Chapman who was a passenger told KGO-TV that she and two other women got out to help the others escape. She told the station that some of the other passengers needed walkers and canes.
The news comes shortly after the tragic fire that occurred on the San Mateo Bridge in Northern California where five women were killed while trapped in a burning limousine.
A newlywed and four other women were killed in the fire, while on their way to celebrate her marriage at a bridal shower.
The bride was identified as 31-year-old Neriza Foja who was a registered nurse that was recently married in the U.S. and planning a second ceremony in the Philippines next month. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the limo was on the way to the Crowne Plaza Hotel for her bridal shower where her husband was waiting.
The driver in the incident wasn't hurt and he said to investigators that he was driving over the bridge when one of the women complained about smoke inside the car, reported The Associated Press. By the time the driver pulled the car over the back of the limo was in flames and four passengers escaped while one escaped through the partition behind the driver.
Orville Brown, the driver, said to The San Francisco Chronicle that he initially misunderstood what one of the passengers was saying and thought she was asking if she could smoke. A few seconds later she knocked again and screamed "Smoke, smoke!" and "Pull over."
The driver, Orville Brown, said at first he misunderstood what one of the passengers in the back was saying when she complained about smelling smoke.
He helped four women escape through the partition and one woman ran around to the passenger door to the back of the limo but it was then engulfed in flames.
"When she opened that back door, I knew it wasn't a good scene," Brown said to The San Francisco Chronicle. "I figured with all that fire that they were gone, man. There were just so many flames. Within maybe 90 seconds, the car was fully engulfed."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
