A man has captured on camera the moment a car "burst into flames" on Auckland's southern motorway after being "smashed" into by another vehicle.
Photos show the black BMW engulfed in flames in the middle of the two left lanes of the motorway just before the Hill Rd off-ramp. Smoke can be seen billowing out of the vehicle with other cars unable to continue up the road.
Michael Todd, who took the photos, says the car erupted into flames after it was hit by another vehicle attempting to merge lanes at about 2am on Friday. He rang emergency services and checked the status of the driver, who he says was trying to start the vehicle as smoke began coming out.
"I recommended he get out of the car and move as far from it as possible, as it was smoking and the front left of the car was missing," he told Newshub.
"He did not have the details of the people who hit him, so I reversed back to check if the other guys were okay and get their details and descriptions. I had already seen them walking but just want back to check. They appeared to be okay and walking around fine, possibly a bit dazed."
As Todd was heading back, the BMW "burst into flames and started making loud popping explosion sounds".
"I managed to block the lane and warn people with hazard lights, and another couple of cars helped in the other lanes after seeing what I was doing. One car still dangerously passed through and got too close to the exploding car, but eventually went around and got by safely luckily."
The man said emergency services soon arrived and firefighters were able to get the blaze under control quickly.
"They were really efficient, at both getting it under control and getting the traffic moving again, so credit to them."
A police spokesperson confirmed two vehicles collided between Redoubt and Orams roads on State Highway 1.
"The vehicle caught fire, which caused a full motorway closure for a brief period while Fire and Emergency attended the scene. There are no serious injuries to report for anyone involved."
